Actually the Cardinals are in only "ok" shape for 2007. The way I see it, is that the NL Central will be tagged with title "Open Season". There is no clear standout
The Cards havent been resigning their stars, sans Jim Edmonds. Their 2 top starters in the playoffs besides Chris Carpenter are now gone. Jeff Suppan is with the rival Brewers. Jeff Weaver is now with the Mariners. The current rotation is looking like Carpenter, Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainwright, Kip Wells and an undetermined 5th starter
And 700 about Pedro... the Sox were concerned about his right shoulder I believe. This past offseason he had to get surgery on, you guessed it, his right shoulder. They knew this was coming and didnt want to hand over a 4 year $$ contract to a guy they knew would eventually break down