The St. Louis Cardinals are doing a bit of bargain bin hunting lately. On Wednesday, the Cardinals and Ryan Franklin agreed to a one-year deal for $1 million.

In what has become the off-season of over paying MLB players, this deal seems a bit awkward. Surely Franklin is worth a few bucks more than $1 million.

On Wednesday, Mark Mulder, signed a $13 million two-year deal to stay with the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s also got some incentives in the deal should he perform well.

It’s a little bit of a gamble for the Cardinals, but the deal could end up paying sweet dividends should Mulder stay healthy.

This year’s World Series is set up to be one of the lower watched in recent history. First, we have a team in the Detroit Tigers that will fail to get national attention. Yes, it’s a great story, but not great enough to hold a national audience. Let’s face it; the national audience would rather see the Yankees or Red Sox.

Last night the Cardinals beat a Mets team that just couldn’t take advantage of situations. The game itself was pretty exciting. The Mets blew a shot in the 6th with bases juiced. The Cardinals finally broke a 1-1 tie to go up 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th. The Mets got the first two runners on in the 9th. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Mets didn’t sacrifice to get the runners to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.

Ok, maybe this should have been titled “why the Cardinals should lose.” First, the Cardinals are barely a .500 team. Honestly, they are lucky to be in a series tied 2-2. Today, that magic ends. The rains came down and gave Mr. Glavine another day of rest. On 3 days rest, the Cardinals had more than a legitimate shot to get to him. However, he’s now rested another day and should pitch well.

Ok, that might be a bold statement considering the series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Padres isn’t over yet, but in reality it is. First, consider that teams up 2-0 in a 5-game series almost never lose the series—only happened once. Next, consider that the Padres can’t seem to score. Finally, consider that the Padres would need to win three straight games—two of which are in St. Louis. Can it happen? You bet. Will it happen? Most likely not.

We could be watching one of the greatest collapses in the history of MLB baseball. Just one week ago the St. Louis Cardinals had a comfortable 8.5 game lead with about 14 games left to play. What could go wrong? Well, since that time, the Cardinals have lost 7 straight games. The latest was last night when they lost at home to the San Diego Padres 7-5.

The pitching tandem of Suppan, Wainwright and Isringhausen shut down the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. The three-pitcher combo allowed just 5 hits and 4 walks over 9 innings of work. The Cardinals got runs in the 1st and 7th innings to beat the Nationals 2-0 and maintain their course towards the 2006 playoffs.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been basically hanging on this season. I don’t think they are ready for the World Series. Today, they are finishing up a three game series with the Chicago Cubs. They have won the first two games—2-0 and 2-1. Barely escaping the Cubs, who are 54-75 does not do much for the confidence. The Cardinals are 68-60 and fighting with the Cincinnati Reds for the division.

The St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Cubs in Chicago earlier. The game really game down to one single inning. Going into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cardinals were up 3-0. However, the Cubs poured it on and scored 6 runs. It proved to be too much for the Cardinals to over come. They tried to come back, but fell one run short. The Cubs won 6-5.