Albert Pujols won the MVP Award in the National League by getting every single first place vote. He played in 160 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 186 for 568 (.327 avg, 1.101 OPS) with 124 runs scored, 47 homers, 135 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. In his 9 years with the Cardinals, Pujols has played in 1,399 games in which he is 1,717 for 5,146 (.334 avg, 1.055 OPS) with 1,071 runs scored, 366 homers, 1,112 RBIs and 61 stolen bases. This was Pujols’ third MVP Award and there is no reason to doubt that he will have a few more if he can just stay healthy.

28-year old righty Adam Wainwright finished 3rd in the voting for the Cy Young Award voting despite having the most first place votes. Wainwright started 34 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He only allowed 216 hits in 233 innings while whiffing 212 batters showing what kind of stuff he had in 2009. Wainwright has now pitched in 149 games (86 starts) in his major league career and he is 46-24 with 3 saves, a 3.17 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Look for Wainwright to eventually win a Cy Young Award in the near future as he keeps getting better every year.

UPDATE: Wainwright also finished 15th in the MVP Award voting in the National League.

34-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Carpenter finished 2nd in the voting for the N.L. Cy Young Award behind only Tim Lincecum of the Giants. Carpenter started 28 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He only allowed 156 hits in 192 1/3 innings showing that he is fully back from the injuries that dogged him the last couple of years before 2009. Carpenter has now pitched in 278 games (260 starts) in his major league career and he is 117-74 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Look for Carpenter to keep pitching at a high level for the Cardinals as long as he can just stay healthy.

UPDATE: Carpenter finished 14th in the voting for the National League MVP voting. What a great year he had as he also won the Comeback Player of the Year Award in the N.L.

Tony LaRussa finished second in the voting for the National League Manager of the Year Award. He led the Cardinals to a 91-71 (56.2%) record last season before they flamed out in the first round of the playoffs. LaRussa has now been the manager of the Cardinals for 14 years in which he has compiled a 1,232-1,034 (54.4%) record during the regular season. The Cardinals were very smart to re-sign LaRussa who is still a really good manager.

23-year old lefty swinging outfielder Colby Rasmus was the odds on favorite for the Rookie of the Year Award when the season began but he finished in a tie for 8th. Rasmus played in 147 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 119 for 474 (.251 avg, .714 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 16 homers, 52 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. In the long run though Rasmus could be much better than anyone who finished above him in the voting as he has a huge upside.