Last year at this time both the Nationals and Padres had "won" the off-season and were going to have to duke it out in the NLCS to see who would claim the WS trophy. See how that worked out?

Come August, the Cards will be right in the thick of it, possibly even with the Division lead. The Cubs have spent a lot of money and have a darn good team on paper. But how many teams have been declared "the team to beat" in the off-season and don't even make the playoffs? The DeWitt/Mozeliak combo has been pretty good the last several years. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt...