I’m betting fans in St. Louis are trying to soften the blow of an awful start with the fact that the NL Central is winnable. Despite what anyone thinks, they are clearly underperforming this season. Nobody in their right mind predicted the Cards would be in fifth place at any point in the season-let alone June 5th.

Despite being 25-35, they are only 7.5 games out of first. I’m guessing that fans and management in other cities feel the same way because of how weak their divisions are. This brings me back to the bigger picture.

After taking two of the first three games in San Diego, the rebuilding Cubs are 26-32 and the big-spending Padres are only 27-32. Which team would you rather be right now?

Measuring up to expectations is a fair way to rate a team’s success in any season. Expectations are often dictated by payrolls. The Padres spent untold millions on this year’s roster and have little more to show for it than the Cubs-who still spent pretty good money.

If neither team makes the postseason, does the other team’s failure matter? Holding out hope because a team’s competition isn’t great is pretty weak ground to base your hopes on. Someone might liken it to being the tallest midget. Ultimately, you’re going to have to advance against better competition and you really don’t get bonus points for getting bounced in the play-in game.