Soon to be 32 year old Scott Rolen rebounded from an injury filled 2005 season with an outstanding 2006!  Rolen won his 7th Gold Glove award in 2006 as he again showed off his awesome range.  He did make 15 errors last season, but he gets to more balls than any other 3B around.  Rolen also rebounded with the stick in his hands as he hit .296 with 94 runs scored, 22 homers, 95 RBIs and a .887 OPS.  Look for Rolen to continue to make great plays in the field and he should hit .290-.300 and knock in over 100 runs as long as he stays healthy.

34 year old switch hitting Scott Spiezio came out of nowhere to have a great season off of the bench for the Cardinals last year.  He played in 119 games and hit 13 homers, drove in 52 runs and had a .862 OPS last season.  3B is probably Spiezio’s worst position on defense as he made 4 errors there in 38 games and he didn’t show much range.  He will likely back up at 3B, 1B and the OF this season for the Cardinals.  He should have another decent season off of the bench for the Cardinals, but he probably won’t get as much playing time as he did last season.

Scrappy 32 year old David Eckstein will be the starter again.  The Cardinals hope they can keep them healthy and get a full season out of him.  He played in 123 games last season and he hit .292 with 68 runs scored, 2 homers, 23 RBIs and a .694 OPS.  Eckstein showed above average defense and he only made 6 errors in 120 at short last season.  The problem with his defense is that his throwing arm is just a tad short sometimes as he has to get his whole body into his throws.  Look for Eckstein to rebound and have a good year this season.

32 year old Aaron Miles will be Eckstein’s back up this season.  He played in 39 games at shortstop and made a whopping 7 errors.  On the positive side, Miles did show very good range.

31 year old lefty swinging Adam Kennedy was signed in the off season to be the starting 2B for the Cards.  He will re-unite with his old double play partner from the Angels SS David Eckstein.  Kennedy is a solid hitter as he had a .273 batting average with 4 homers, 55 RBIs and 16 steals last season for the Cardinals.  He does have big problems against lefty pitchers so it’s possible that he could wind up platooning with Aaron Miles.  Kennedy only hit .193 with a .533 OPS against lefties last season.  Kennedy only made 9 errors last season but he doesn’t have much range.  If he platoons, look for him to hit in the .290s but if he plays everyday he will likely hit in the 260s or 270s this season.

30 year old switch hitter Aaron Miles will back up and possibly platoon with Kennedy.  Miles hit .263 with a .671 OPS last season and that’s not enough production to play every day in the majors.  Miles did hit .291 with a .738 OPS against lefties last season, so a Miles/Kennedy platoon makes a lot of sense for the Cards.  Miles made 10 errors in only 88 games at 2B and that needs to improve.  He’s got great range but that does not make the errors any easier for the Cardinals to take.

27 year old Albert Pujols has been a fantastic hitter since the day he set foot on a major league diamond.  Pujols was awesome last season and his numbers would have been even more impressive if he didn’t miss 19 games to injury.  He still hit .331 with a 1.102 OPS with 119 runs scored, 49 homers and 137 RBIs.  He will likely even put up better numbers than those this season.  Pujols has had an awesome three year run in which he’s averaged .331 with 127 runs, 45.3 homers, 125.7 RBIs, 91 walks and only 55.7 strike outs.  He also has turned himself into a very good defensive first baseman as he only made 6 errors last season.

34 year old switch hitter Scott Spiezio would replace Pujols if he gets hurt.  He played 55 innings at first base and didn’t make an error there.  He will likely get most of his playing time at first base and in the outfield.

The Cardinals just want their catchers to play good defense because the Cardinals are loading with good hitters all over the field.  24 year old Yadier Molina is a superb defensive catcher, but he doesn’t hit much.  Molina suffered through a season where he hit .216 with a .595 OPS!  He also hit 6 homers and knocked in 49 runs, but he was often hopeless with a bat in his hands.  The Cardinals are hoping he can hit .240-.250, because he would still be a asset to them if he did.  Molina has a rocket laucher attached to his right shoulder.  He threw out 41% of the runners that tried to steal on him last season!  He only made 4 errors, but he allowed 7 passed balls and needs to improve on that.

35 year old Gary Bennett will be the back up for the Cardinals and he’s not much of a hitter either.  He only hit .223 with a .605 OPS last season and he’s not been a much better hitter than that over his career, so don’t expect miracles out of his bat.  Bennett needs to play better on defense too!  He only threw out 10% of the runners that tried to steal on him and he made 3 errors and had a passed ball in 385.1 innings behind the plate.  He doesn’t have any real competition for his job, so he will be the back up again.

29 year old Michel Hernandez will be waiting in the wings at AAA if the need arises for another catcher.  He hit .274 with 2 homers and 28 RBIs in AAA last season with an OPS of .673.  He has played in 5 games in the majors and is 1 for 4 (.250).

The Cards have brought back 33 year old Eli Marrero.  Marrero can catch in a pinch, but he’s much better used as a utility man.  Marrero could be the #3 catcher and a back up outfielder.  After all, he still has power as he hit 6 homers last season in only 93 at bats.  He only hit .204 last season, but he had a very solid .765 OPS.