Football season is over, and now it’s time for America’s Pastime to take center stage. With baseball season comes a lot of speculation. Every team is looking to add to its legacy with a World Series Championship, but only one team can accomplish that each year. There are arguments for each team: “The Yankees will win because Jeter has to go out with a bang,” “The Dodgers are going to make enough offseason moves to move them to the top,” or “The Cubs have to win another sometime,” but none of these are true. St. Louis Cardinals fans will be the ones celebrating once the season is over. This is our year… for the twelfth time.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been the dominant franchise in the National League for almost as long as the league has been active. The Cardinals have been to 19 World Series, and have won 11. This spring training will be extremely important for the Cardinals as they try to get back to the World Series for the second year in a row.

The Cardinals’ pitchers and catchers reported to spring training Feb. 12, and the rest of the position players arrive Feb. 17. They also have to try to create team chemistry after losing veteran leaders Chris Carpenter to retirement and Carlos Beltrán to free agency and trading away “Hometown Hero” David Freese. While the Cardinals have changed a little since the end of last season, they are still one of the top teams in the National League, and they will undoubtedly do very well again this season.

Some may say that the Matheny-led Cardinals are a fluke because he is having unprecedented success as a coach entering his third year. Although Matheny is young, he has done a remarkable job leading the Cardinals. It’s written everywhere in Cardinal history: “If it’s not working, make it better. If it’s doing great, make it better.” Matheny has followed this tradition by making great offseason acquisitions and trades for players that have come up big in the biggest moments.

The Cardinals made just a few moves over the offseason, but they are still one of the top teams in the National League. They’ve signed infielders Jhonny Peralta and Mark Ellis, and traded Freese for outfielder Peter Bourjos. Bourjos seals the hole in the outfield that Beltrán left, and Peralta and Ellis just add depth and experience to their young infield.

Another thing that the Cardinals have going for them in 2014 is their great young bullpen, led by closer Trevor Rosenthal and veteran reliever Randy Choate. It seems that almost everyone in their bullpen throws 100 mph or higher. They’ve also bolstered their starting rotation by adding young arms like Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. All three of them had no-hitters into the eighth inning last season, and they’ve only gotten better over the offseason.

All things considered, the Cardinals are still the team to beat in the National League, and they will surely go deep into the playoffs this year. Even so, the MLB is very unpredictable and the Cardinals could be upset, however unlikely. I predict that the Cardinals will win their division, gain the first place spot in the National League, win the Divisional Round in four games, win the NL Championship in five games, and win the World Series against the Oakland Athletics in six games.