November is the saddest month, at least for baseball fans. Come December the Winter Meetings start up, and along with that comes the excitement of free agent and trade activity that keeps us all occupied. If your team finished its business early January can still be hard to sit through. However January usually still brings plenty of hot stove discussion.

November, though. November is just painful. There’s a holding pattern all across Major League Baseball. Teams begin organizing their off season priorities much like an NFL team sets up their War Room before the draft. GMs and managers are deciding who they would like to bring in for 2012…and who they can ship out.

There is still arbitration and tracking who has filed for free agency. Of course there is also the awards cycle that peaks just enough interest to get the average fan frustrated that it is still over 90 days until Spring Training. But by and large November is one mean cold-hearted, unforgiving month for baseball fans.

It’s an odd November this year for Cardinal Nation, though, as we actually have something real to consider, something foreign over the last 16 years. The Cardinal brain trust is sifting through resumes (well maybe a bit more due diligence than that) to determine who will take the helm as skipper of the Redbirds for the next 5-10 years.

Tougher still many are being forced to sit idly by as Albert Pujols decides which team will have the honor of making him worth over a quarter of a billion dollars. Fun stuff for fans.

Luckily February brings spring training and the promise of summer. Of course there is also the delusional optimism that comes with every team having a fresh start. Making even Cubs fans into believers for the next month or two.