35-year old switch-hitting 1B/DH Lance Berkman played in 122 games in 2010 for the Yankees & Astros and he was 100 for 404 (.248 avg, .781 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 14 homers, 58 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Cardinals signed him to a 1-year deal last winter with the idea of starting him in right field. No one thought his body would hold up with him moving back to the outfield in 2011. Berkman played a decent RF and his bat returned to previous potency in 2011 as he had the important job of batting behind Albert Pujols to give him protection. Berkman played in 145 games for the Cardinals in 2011 and he was 147 of 488 (.301 avg, .959 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 31 homers, 94 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. For that, Lance Berkman was named the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2011.

30-year old righty swinging LF Matt Holliday finished 12th in the voting for the N.L MVP Award. Holliday played in 158 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 186 of 596 (.312 avg, .922 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 28 homers, 103 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Holliday has now played in 1,012 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 1,216 of 3,833 (.317 avg, .931 OPS) with 668 runs scored, 180 homers, 695 RBIs and 89 stolen bases. With the long term extension the Cardinals signed Holliday to they hope he will continue to get a lot of MVP votes in the near future.

30-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols finished a distant 2nd in the N.L. MVP Award voting to 1B Joey Votto of the Reds. Pujols played in 159 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 183 of 587 (.312 avg, 1.011 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 42 homers, 118 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Pujols has now played in 1,558 games in his first 10 years with the Cardinals and he is 1,900 of 5,733 (.331 avg, 1.050 OPS) with 1,186 runs scored, 408 homers, 1,230 RBIs and 75 stolen bases. The Cardinals hope that Pujols finishes his career with the St. Louis Cardinals but it’s not going to be easy to re-sign him when his current contract is up.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Wainwright finishes 2nd in the N.L. Cy Young Award voting. He finished 3rd in 2009. Wainwright started 33 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Wainwright has now pitched in 182 games (119 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 66-35 with 3 saves, a 2.97 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Wainwright will eventually win a Cy Young Award as he keeps getting better.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - Adam Wainwright also finished tied for 17th in the N.L. MVP Award voting with catcher Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies and 2B Dan Uggla of the Marlins.

24-year old lefty starting pitcher Jaime Garcia finished 3rd in the voting for the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award behind only Buster Posey of the Giants and Jason Heyward of the Braves. Garcia started 28 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He only gave up 151 hits in 163 1/3 innings while whiffing 132 batters showing what kind of stuff he has. Garcia has now pitched in 38 games (29 starts) in his first two years with the Cardinals and he is 14-9 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Garcia has a huge upside and the Cardinals are going to have a solid starting rotation for a long time ensuring that they will be in the mix in the N.L. Central.