--- team-by-team breakdowns of best/worst case scenarios;
--- a 12-page story on the loaded Mets and Juan Soto;
--- a really nice 8-page profile of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, awaiting a big-bucks contract extension after somehow getting a WS title out of 40 starting pitchers last season and bullpen games
in the NLDS and WS;--- predictions of end-of-season champs and individual award winners;
--- a fascinating 8-page story of what it's like inside a major umpire training school
About your Cardinals: "The Cardinals initiated a self-termed "reset" after posting their worst two-year winning percentage (.475) since top executive John Mozeliak first joined St. Louis in 1995. He'll give way by 2026 to team advisor Chaim Bloom, a former Red Sox GM who didn't exactly endear himself to the Boston faithful". And...
Cardinals finish prediction: Last place in the NL Central (S.I.'s "Flavor of the Weak") with a record of 72-90. "Best case: The veteran rotation stays healthy and the defense is strong. Former top prospect Jordan Walker emulates the success of SS Masyn Wynn (4.9 WAR last year). Worst case: The pitching staff struggles, lacking strikeout producers. 2B Nolan Gorman (.203 BA, 151 Ks) looks like a bust as he whiffs even more frequently than in 2024."
While the Sports Illustrated cover jinx has always been with us --- seven NY Mets are on this cover
--- this time it's the pictured subject for the American League scouting reports section being afflicted: Just a day or two after publication, Yankees stud SP Gerrit Cole was declared out for the entire season. That may ruin S.I.'s prediction of the Yanks beating the Dodgers in the 2025 WS.This is a really fascinating issue. Unfortunately, as every S.I.-subscribing seamhead knows, it might be, like ESPN, the last time MLB even gets mentioned until the postseason.
