The Cardinals have 9 potential free agents heading into the winter. Here is who I see staying and leaving out of this bunch:

Yadier Molina: 29-year old righty swinging catcher Yadier Molina played in 139 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 145 for 475 (.305 avg, .814 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 14 homers, 65 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Molina is also the best defensive catcher in all of baseball, period! The Cardinals have a $7 million dollar club option on Molina with a $750,000 buyout. PREDICTION: STAYING

Gerald Laird: 31-year old righty swinging catcher Gerald Laird played in only 37 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 22 for 95 (.232 avg, .660 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Albert Pujols: 31-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols played in 147 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 173 for 579 (.299 avg, .906 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 37 homers, 99 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The Cardinals will try to keep Pujols, but I have a feeling that they won’t get a hometown discount. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Rafael Furcal: 34-year old switch-hitting shortstop Rafael Furcal played in 50 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 50 for 196 (.255 avg, .735 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 7 homers, 16 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He played in 87 games overall for the Dodgers & Cardinals and he was 77 for 333 (.231 avg, .646 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 8 homers, 28 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The Cardinals have a $12 million dollar club option for 2012 on Furcal with a $1.3 million dollar buyout. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Nick Punto: 33-year old switch-hitting infielder Nick Punto played in 63 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 37 for 133 (.278 avg, .809 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 1 stolen base. PREDICTION: STAYING

Corey Patterson: 32-year old lefty swinging outfielder Corey Patterson played in 44 games for the Cardinals and he was 8 for 51 (.157 avg, .424 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 3 RBIs. He played in 133 games overall for the Cardinals & Blue Jays and he was 88 for 368 (.239 avg, .632 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Edwin Jackson: 28-year old righty starting pitcher Edwin Jackson pitched in 13 games (12 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he was 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He pitched in 32 games (31 starts) overall for the White Sox & Cardinals last year and he was 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Octavio Dotel: 37-year old righty reliever Octavio Dotel pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he was 3-3 with 2 saves, a 3.28 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. Dotel pitched in 65 games (0 starts) overall last year for the Cardinals & Blue Jays and he was 5-4 with 3 saves, a 3.50 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. The Cardinals have a $3.75 million dollar option on Dotel for 2012 with a $750,000 buyout. PREDICTION: LEAVING

Arthur Rhodes: 42-year old lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals in 2011 and he was 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He pitched in 51 games (0 starts) overall last year for the Rangers & Cardinals and he was 3-4 with 1 save, a 4.64 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Cardinals have a $4 million dollar club option on Rhodes for 2012 with a $200,000 buyout. PREDICTION: STAYING, BUT FOR MUCH LESS THAN THE OPTION

The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Champs for 2011! They did it the hard way by being a Wild Card team as they didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the last day of the regular season. The Cardinals finished the regular season in second place in the N.L. Central with a 90-72 record, six games behind the Brewers. They had to go through the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers to win it all! Here is a look at the things that stood out to me the most about the Cardinals during the regular season:

TEAM MVP: The Cardinals had co-MVPs in 31-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols and 35-year old switch-hitting outfielder Lance Berkman. Pujols played in 147 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 173 for 579 (.299 avg, .906 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 37 homers, 99 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Berkman played in 145 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 147 for 488 (.301 avg, .959 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 31 homers, 94 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

BEST PITCHER: 36-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Carpenter was a workhorse for the Cardinals in 2011. He pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Cardinals this year and he was 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Carpenter gave up 243 hits in 237 1/3 innings in 2011, but he limited the damage by whiffing 191 batters and walking only 55 of them.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: 33-year old righty starting Kyle Lohse had a nice bounceback season in 2011. He pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Cardinals in 2011 and he was 14-8 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Lohse only walked 42 batters in 188 1/3 innings and that limited the damage.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: 25-year old lefty swinging CF Colby Rasmus was disappointing the Cardinals, so they dealt him at the trade deadline. The Cardinals got Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Marc Rzepczynski for Rasmus and they wouldn’t have won the World Series without this deal. Rasmus played in 94 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 83 for 338 (.246 avg, .753 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.

28-year old righty swinging 3B David Freese won the MVP of the World Series for the Cardinals. He played in all 7 games for the Cardinals in the World Series and he was 8 for 23 (.348 avg, 1.160 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. Freese became only the sixth player in Major League History to win the MVP of a League Championship Series and a World Series! David Freese played in 19 games in the post-season this year for the Cardinals and he was 25 for 63 (.397 avg, 1.258 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 5 homers and 21 RBIs. The 21 RBIs are a new Major League Record for a player in the post-season. Freese essentially willed the Cardinals to win the World Series.

The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but that was it offensively for the Cardinals as the pitching locked them down in a vice. Chris Carpenter worked the first six innings last night in which he gave up 6 hits and 2 runs (both earned), while walking 2 batters and whiffing five to earn the win. Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel and Lance Lynn combined to work two scoreless innings to get the lead to closer Jason Motte. Motte worked a scoreless ninth inning in which he got all three batters he faced to lock up the World Series for the Cardinals. Allen Craig got the start in the place of an injured Matt Holliday, and he made the most of it. Craig was 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. Lance Berkman (1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored), David Freese (1 for 2 with 2 walks, a double and 2 RBIs), Yadier Molina (2 for 3 with 2 RBIs) and Rafael Furcal (2 for 3 with 1 RBI) also were running up to the plate for the Cardinals last night. The Cardinals are the World Champions as they defeated the Rangers in seven games!

The Cardinals have replaced starting LF Matt Holliday on the roster for tonight’s game due to a sprained right wrist that was going to prevent him from playing. Holliday played in 6 games in the World Series and he was 3 for 19 (.158 avg, .595 OPS) with 5 runs scored. He played in 16 games in the post-season this year and he was 15 for 51 (.294 avg, .831 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. Allen Craig will replace Holliday in LF tonight. He has played in all six games in the World Series so far and he is 4 for 15 (.267 avg, 1.088 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Craig has now played in 14 games in the post-season so far and he is 8 for 33 (.242 avg, .966 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers and 7 RBIs. Craig has been a money player for the Cardinals in the post-season, so Holliday’s injury could be a blessing in disguise for the Cardinals. The Cardinals have added rookie outfielder Ardon Chambers to the roster to replace Holliday. Chambers has played in 10 games in the post-season for the Cardinals so far and he is 1 for 5 (.200 avg, .367 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs.