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Tony La Russa shocked many on Monday morning, telling the world he was leaving the game behind after being one of its greatest managers for 33 years. The news was stunning to a fan base still giddy over an improbable World Series championship, and it effectively shut the door on one of St. Louis' greatest baseball eras. But while announcing a career move opposite that which so many anticipated -- football online and doing so mere hours after a confetti-laced parade -- La Russa wanted to make one thing clear. "I feel great about what's here for 2012," he said. "The job, everybody knows it's a great place to manage, and the team is very solid. So, I feel really good about leaving and them looking forward to another chance to win next year with whoever manages." Those words came with uncertainty surrounding football online where Albert Pujols will be beginning next season, and they pointed to something many fail to realize: The Cardinals don't have to re-sign Pujols to be a great club. With the personnel they have, and the outlook of the division they play in, the Cards look like a playoff contender in 2012 and beyond -- with or without the greatest player of this era. #pollContainer{display:none}.twoColumnPoll{w football online idth:49%;float:left}.twoColumnPoll div{float:left;margin-left:2px;}.twoColumnPoll .pollResultText{width:68%;}.twoColumnDivider{border-right:1px solid #a5a5a5;}.noResults {text-align:center; padding:8px}.submitButton{cursor:pointer}.waitCursor{cursor:wait}bam.loadSync("/shared/scripts/bam/bam.poll.js");$(function() {var poll_3WzQz1ckSfEOKdnR0AYtq6XYQpA0 = new bam.poll.Poll({key:"3WzQz1ckSfEOKdnR0AY football online tq6XYQpA0", // campaign idshowResults:"yes", // yes | nocustomSuccess:"", // URIsubmitImg:"",buttonText:"Vote >",sortOrder:"ascending", // ascending | descendingsortType:"text", // text | number | last-namesortResultsByCount:"yes", // yes | noresultType:"percent", // percent | countshowTotalVotes:"no", // yes | nocolumns:"1", // 1 | 2resultsText:"Results delayed up to 5 minutes.", // default resul football online ts textcallback:null, // function resultsCallback:null // function});poll_3WzQz1ckSfEOKdnR0AYtq6XYQpA0.init();});Do the Cards need to make it a top priority to bring back their prestigious first baseman? Without a doubt. Should they stretch beyond their payroll limitations and do everything possible -- maybe, as C.J. Wilson joked about his own free agency, arrange for a private blimp -- so that Pu football online jols ends his career in St. Louis? Perhaps. But would this franchise be in dire straits without him? Not in the slightest. "Clearly, we still think we have a lot of core players, elite-type players, who are part of this organization," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said during the World Series."If this is an Albert-less club in the future, we still think we have a lot of positives coming football online ," he added.Those positives include a full year of David Freese at third base and Jason Motte in the ninth, and the continued development of players like Allen Craig, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn and Jon Jay. Can Lance Berkman, at 36 next year, duplicate a season in which he batted .301, mashed 31 homers and wio National League Comeback Player of the Year honor? Probably not.Can Matt Holliday rebound football online from a season with disappointing numbers that stemmed mostly from all sorts of bad luck -- like an appendectomy, a moth in his ear and several annoying injuries? Probably so. And then there's Adam Wainwright -- the co-ace absent from the Cardinals' championship season -- who should be ready for the start of Spring Training and will be coming off Tommy John surgery, which boasts a mighty good trac football online k record. Pujols is more than a difference-maker; he's an icon who connects with a city in a way few can. Cardinals fans desperately want to see him stay and be one of the rare modern-day superstars who identifies himself with only one organization. But even if another team swoops in this offseason, offering the type of money the Cardinals are unwilling to match and Pujols is unwilling to turn do football online wn, it isn't out of the question to believe next year's unit can be just as potent. Remember, the Rangers team they just beat in seven World Series games saw their rotation improve significantly in innings and ERA from one year to the next, despite losing Cliff Lee to Philadelphia and staying in-house with the staff. One of the beauties of baseball is that one person -- even a person as special as football online Pujols -- can't come close to carrying one team. Texas threw record money at Alex Rodriguez, finished no better than last in its division over a three-year span during which A-Rod won an MVP award and finished second and sixth in the voting the other two years, then improved by 13 wins the first season he was gone. The Mariners went from below .500 to two straight American League Championship Ser football online ies after Ken Griffey Jr. departed following the 1999 season. If Pujols went elsewhere, the Cardinals would still be legit -- and they wouldn't have a gargantuan contract on their payroll. With Chris Carpenter, Wainwright, Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook -- perhaps even top prospect Shelby Miller -- the rotation would be deep and strong. With Motte closing, lefty Marc Rzepczynski returning football online and right-handers Kyle McClellan, Fernando Salas, Mitchell Boggs, Eduardo Sanchez and Lynn in the mix, the bullpen would be cheap and solid. Lineup-wise, of course, Pujols would be a big loss. But they'd still have Holliday and Berkman and Freese and Craig and Jay and Yadier Molina, whose option was picked up Monday. And the Cardinals would be able to allocate the money they don't spend on Pujols football online on other players.Maybe they would sign Jose Reyes, giving themselves a shortstop who can lead off -- a younger, better, more expensive version of Rafael Furcal. Maybe they put Berkman at his more comfortable position of first base and give Craig a starting job in right field. Or maybe it's a bunch of smaller things. Regardless, Mozeliak has already done a solid job of making sure everything outs football online ide of Pujols is taken care of. There's no reason to believe he can't figure out a way to consistently compete without him in what should be a less-competitive National League Central next year -- with the Astros far away, the Pirates still not there, the Cubs seemingly starting over, the Reds possibly falling off and the Brewers likely losing their own blue-chip first baseman.Yes, seeing Pujols i football online n a different uniform next season would be strange, unsettling and sad. But the Cardinals would still be good. football online
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