Reason for optimism: Adam Wainwright looked great in October and last year's stellar rookies, Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk, will be Opening Day starters.
Reason for pessimism: At best, those players are being asked to plug big holes, not improve the team.
For the second year in a row, the St. Louis Cardinals confounded data-driven bettors with their win-loss record. In 2014, the Cardinals won 90 games despite outscoring their opponents by a mere 16 runs during the regular season. Last season, St. Louis not only captured its third straight National League Central crown, but did it by winning an MLB-best 100 games. It wasn't the run differential that suggested lesser talent -- at plus-72 it wasn't quite 100-win good, but was still indicative of a mid-90s-win team -- it was how they achieved that differential.