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Welcome to the great plains. When next Major League Baseball hosts a World Series it will have been a decade since any of thw 10 teams from the Midwest divisions have reached the Fall Classic. They've rarely had a club get as far as the championship series, and the National League Central hasn't won a game in the best-of-seven NLCS since 2018. Oh, and coming out of the pandemic the small-market teams that dot the NL and American League Central divisions have been rocked by revenue turbulence.

All while the games star free agents gather at the coasts.

With that as the background, Cincinnati Enquirer baseball writer Gordon Wittenmyer suggested to Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold that they poll as many executives as possible at the General Manager Meetings to ask: Which team in the NL Central is most likely to be the next team to win a World Series? The answers were revealing -- not just for the task, but also for what executives view as the most likely traits a team needs to win.

The "most resources," came up often as the big-city Cubs received the most votes.

Here is the Post-Dispatch story that came from the poll.

And here is the podcast that expands upon the poll to discuss the factors that got the divisions here, how one or more can escape the bind, and whether Major League Baseball is just going to keep soaring above fly-over country until the economic structure of the game changes. The two baseball writers dissect how the Pirates could augment a talented team with a different payroll formula, how the Brewers may lose their edge, how the Cardinals made regain theirs, how the Reds could make a push to the top, how the Cubs could financially squash the competition, and why they don't.

In the end, one of the writers makes his prediction for the NL Central team that will next win a World Series title.

It's a team that just doesn't exist yet.

In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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Before plunging into the Hot Stove season and the arrival of the GM Meetings, a look at the performances this past season by the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals system, as ranked in the annual Post-Dispatch Dozen. For several years now, baseball writer Daniel Guerrero has ranked the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals organization, but what sets this ranking apart is the eligibility (players cannot have a moment in the majors) and rubric. Each players is considered through the four Ps of Prospects: proximity to majors, overall potential, how prominent and demanding is his position, and, of course, production or performance.

Guerrero joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to explain the process and discuss the 2025 PD 12.

Read even more on his rankings and updates on each player here.

Only one of the 12, catcher Jimmy Crooks, graduated to the majors, leaving 11 incumbents for the 2026 rankings, but there will be some changes to the rankings going into the coming season, as Guerrero and host Derrick Goold discuss. Just not at the No. 1 spot with ascending talent JJ Wetherholt. Though, No. 2 is up for grabs with recent first-round pick Liam Doyle set to throw his fastball into the mix. Also, Guerrero scoops the host on a strong sleeper pick for the 2026 PD 12.

In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

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When the World Series ends, the roster work begins, and the Cardinals have new staff and new leadership in place -- so will it mean new direction?

On Oct. 31, the Best Podcast in Baseball drops, fittingly, the 31st episode of this season. And it's not meant to scare fans. Although, the two teams playing in the World Series might cause a shiver through Cardinals Nation about how far away the local club feels from the two tycoon clubs playing this Halloween for the championship.

Nathan Mills, an editor at the Post-Dispatch and co-host of the hockey podcast Net Front Presence, joins baseball writer Derrick Goold in a brand new BPIB to discuss how far away the Cardinals are from playing this late into October. Also discussed: What lessons can be taken from a World Series that features two of the top-five payrolls in the game, what pitchers fit the Cardinals needs, and what priorities the Cardinals should set for this winter when splurging and star-chasing seems unlikely.

The butterfly effect of new positions and new hires for the front office is detailed, as it whether such moves reinvigorate a fanbase.

Many words that begin with the prefix re- are used in the making of this podcast.

In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.