A few quick hits on teams I follow on a daily basis
Royals--I have them at 33/1 for WS. I am now fully convinced they will get a WC at worst and possibly at home... this weekend at home against Det is biggest series for KC since 1985
--Strenghts--Starting pitching, Bullpen, Speed, Defense.
--Weakneses--No Power Hitting, Mostly Station to Station Offense. No Postseason Experience--in the starting line-up only Infante would have any playoff experience (Ibanez, Willingham off the bench). Incompetent Manger--Yost is the worst and clueless at most times. Took him over 2 months to finally shake-up the line-up after he finally realized it wasnt working.
Recap--Royals will be the team no one wants to face, could surprise some people but the offense would suddenly have to explode for them to go anywhere. Also Yost will somehow lose a game himself..
Cardinals---I have them 15/1 WS, snagged this about a month ago when Milwaukee yes Milwaukee had a 2.5 game lead. Cards Should win hold on and win division.
---Strengths---Starting Pitching, Experience, Clutch Factor, Defense. I dont feel like I need to elaborate much here. Waino has turned things around, Lynn is solid as ever and Shelby Miller has emerged into his 1st round ability. Lackey/Wacha will be the 4th man and I personally think they should shut Wacha down for the year. Experience and Clutch. Believe it or not the Cards will set a Franchise record for 4 consecutive postseason appearances, feels like it should be much longer, so they have obviously been on the big stage before.
---Weaknesses---9th Inning, Inconsistent Hitting,---Rosenthal has been a mess all year, yes he has a bunch of saves but runners are always on. For whatever reason he sucks at Busch and is dominant on the road. As for the hitting well it can disappear for games at a time.
Recap---Only bad matchup is if the Cards end up facing the Giants. The Giants have owned the Cards since that 2012 NLCS meltdown. I like The Cards against LAD or WASH. However SF/Pitt I feel are bad matchups for STL. Wouldnt surprise me to see the Cards go deep again despite this team not being as good as in past years.
Just some thoughts...thanks for reading