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No. 3 St. Louis Cardinals
2000 Record: 95-67 (1st NL Central) The St. Louis Cardinals may be the National League's most talented team in 2001. They came close to the World Series last year, and they may get there this time around if Big Mac can stay healthy. Mark McGwire missed nearly all of the second half with a bum knee, and the Cardinals still finished fourth in the league in runs scored. With a healthy McGwire, Jim Edmonds, Edgar Renteria and J.D. Drew, the offense should be scary. The starting pitching looks solid again with Cy Young candidate Darryl Kile, Andy Benes and newcomer Dustin Hermanson joining either Matt Morris or Garett Stephenson. The key will be how 21-year-old Rick Ankiel comes back from his playoff flameout. Putting Ankiel In Focus shows that control was a problem even before last October. The lefty posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of just over 2-to-1. His ability to keep things under control will be a key for the Cards staff and their playoff hopes. No matter what happens, I rank St. Louis as the third-best team in baseball.
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