TOWER GROVE - The offseason starts with a question that may have been the theme of October and an answer that I wish I had handy during the postseason.At one point in time everyone covering the Cardinals mentioned that Game 1 of the NL Division Series was the first time the club had its lineup together. David Eckstein leading off. Albert Pujols batting third. Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds starting - at that same time! While it seemed like a rare occurrence, there had to be a way to confirm that feeling with a number.

Leading off the return of PostCards from its postseason hiatus, Eban Atkins, a “huge Cards fan in Texas”, wrote:

Q: I am wondering what the Cardinals record is this season when Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen are both in the lineup? Where can I find sortable statistics like that? — Eban Atkins

Wish I knew of a place to find statistics like that. (Anyone? Suggestions? Anyone?) The best I could do was dig through the 177 box scores and count it up by hand. Eban’s question was just the spur I needed to do that Thursday evening. Turns out, Rolen and Edmonds were in the lineup together for 83 regular-season games, roughly half. The Cardinals were 46-37 with both stars in the lineup.

That includes going 16-12 after the All-Star break in those games.

I wondered how many times the Cardinals had their four cornerstones in the lineup at the same time. Turns out Eckstein, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds played together just 59 times during the regular season. The Cardinals were 34-25 in those games (11-10 after the All-Star break). And it happened just once in September.

You’ll remember that game.

It was only sorta kinda essential.

The one time in September all four core players started was Sept. 30, when the Cardinals defeated Milwaukee, 3-2. That was the game that set up the Sunday gamble with Chris Carpenter sitting, Anthony Reyes starting and John Smoltz pitching the Cardinals to the division title.

Consider that the Cardinals went 94-83 overall this season, including the playoffs. That’s a .531 winning percentage. With the four horseman in the lineup, the Cardinals’ winning percentage was .595. To Eban’s question: With Rolen and Edmonds in the lineup, the winning percentage was .571.

This question’s rabbit hole could go deeper.

Three times this season, those four cornerstones not only started together but batted in order - No. 1 through cleanup - and the Cardinals were 2-1 in those games. In June, the Cardinals had just four games with all four stars in the lineup at the same time. They were 1-3 in those games. Rolen and Edmonds started together in a grand total of 12 games in the final two months of the regular season. They started together in 15 games in October.

It would be interesting to see what kind of offense the Cardinals churned out with that foursome in the lineup or what the Cardinals did with just three of the above four in the lineup. But that’s a project for another night.

For now, there are other questions to ask.

On with the first offseason edition of PostCards.

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Q: What are the chances of the Cards going after Ray Durham or even Adam Kennedy for next season? Is Ronnie Belliard still in the picture?

– Ken Gregory

DG: As far as second basemen go, Adam Kennedy seems the better and more likely alternative of the group you mention. Ronnie Belliard is in the picture - even more so with Cleveland clearly backpedaling from its (oddly) public assertion that it planned to re-sign Belliard. But a pricey second baseman is not the Cardinals way. Of the Cardinals’ free-agent priorities, second base is low on the list for many reasons. First, they feel the pool for second base is expansive and the position is often not worth the price required to skim one of the top-tier players. Second, Aaron Miles is around as an alternative. Durham, for example,  appears the opposite of those trends. The name that does keep surfacing is Mark Loretta. If San Diego was willing to deal Josh Barfield, a talented young second baseman, does that mean the Padres have a plan in place. Does that mean the return of Loretta or a Giles Family Reunion? There’s growing belief that Loretta might fit the Cardinals’ slotting system like Mark Grudzielanek did, and he fits a few needs, too. He’ll not only play second but bat second.

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Q: Has there been any confirmation as to the whereabouts of Juan Encarnacion during the World Series celebration? I thought he contributed during the season (and a key triple in Game 4 of the San Diego-St. Louis series) and was rather disappointed that he wasn’t there. If his absence was not seen too kindly by the organization as some reports suggest, it might make the offseason a bit more difficult in trying to fill another hole in the outfield. I suppose he could be packaged with someone given his contract situation.

–  SC
St. Louis

DG: Nothing official that we’re aware of. Joe Strauss said recently that Encarnacion has been seen by Cardinal team doctors as he collects opinions on what to do about his troublesome wrist. Encarnacion has two more years remaining on his contract and he has possibility of wrist surgery - two characteristics that diminish his value on the market. If the Cardinals think they can land a free agent outfielder (hello Luis Gonzalez) and move Chris Duncan to right field (where Tony La Russa believes the rookie is more comfortable) that makes Encarnacion expendable. Or does it? With Edmonds return almost assured, is Skip Schumaker enough of a backup for that position. Encarnacion’s value to the Cardinals grows if they consider him a viable option at two of the three outfield positions. Clearly they do. His absence from the parade and celebration has done nothing to diminish that belief, mainly because it’s done nothing to diminish his contract.

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Q: What years did the Cardinals wear the baby blue uniforms?

– Carey Michael

DG: According to a snazzy uniform database provided by the Baseball Hall of Fame - check it out it by clicking here - the Cardinals wore the baby blues from 1976 through 1984. They trotted them out in 2005 against Tampa Bay, too.

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Q: This is not so much a question but a comment. I just wanted to say that I thought the ovation Tony La Russa received at Busch Stadium was awesome. He really deserved it after all the criticism and hard times he had been through since coming to St. Louis. You could tell he was really touched, and I think that was a special moment that is not getting the attention it should.

– Samuel Reitz

DG: Since 2004, it’s been clear that La Russa feels more accepted by St. Louis than he did in previous years. La Russa is genuine when he talks about finally “joining the club” of Cardinal champions. He told Bernie Miklasz recently that next year he’ll be wearing two championship rings, and here’s betting when he has to select one he wears the 2006 jewelry. (Just my opinion.) He’s comfortable in his Cardinals skin now and the fans should recognize that. But does a championship stitch him into the city’s tapestry the way beloved Whitey Herzog is? Probably not … but for no other reason than an absurdly silly one - La Russa chooses not live here. He’ll always be a treasured visitor. Why he’s not more is not a question I’m suited to answer.

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Q: I saw where the Cardinals lost their Class A affiliate, the State College Spikes, of the New York-Penn League when they elected to join the Pirates. With this in mind a have some questions regarding the minor leagues. I understand that the Cardinals don’t own the minor-league teams but do they own all the players? Or are some of them the property of the minor-league team and they bounce around year to year finding teams to play with to fill out the rosters? What does a minor-leaguer make? After signing bonus, large for some small for most what is their salary? Is it determined by class or longevity? Does everyone in that class make the same or does it go by talent?

In an unrelated area, If a player was selected to the All-Star team and doesn’t play (taken off team for injury or other reason) or if they were one of the players to replace them, do those players get to say they were All-Stars for that year? or does the distinction only go to players on the roster?

– Dan Loeffelman
Omaha, Neb.

DG: The Cardinals do own one of their minor-league affiliates, Double-A Springfield, and there is always scuttlebutt that they will look to purchase another one if the opportunity presents itself. This coming summer will be the 10^th year of an affiliation with Triple-A Memphis, and that bond is strong despite some friction about the talent on the roster. All of the players have contracts within the Cardinals system and, essentially, with the Cardinals. Some have minor-league contracts that are with those individual teams, and that’s why the Cardinals must “purchase the contract” of said player before promoting them. The Cardinals direct who is on each team, right down to the veteran minor-leaguers signed by individual clubs. Those are the players who seem to “bounce around”. The Class AAA players, so to speak. According to Minor League Baseball.com, players on their first contract make $1,100 a month maximum. (Hence, the wide variation of signing bonuses which help reward talent or draft status when the monthly salary cannot.) After the first contract, the salary is negotiable. So, longevity, experience, talent, and most of all performance all come into play for the second deal. Contracts are handled by the Major League Baseball office. Imported players have different rules governing how much they can make a month, and some will make more than that minor-league max.

To the All-Star question: This is a debate that percolated this past summer with Manny Ramirez. Selected to the All-Star Game, Ramirez declined to go. So does that mean he’s an All-Star and gets any All-Star bonus, or not? There is no clear answer. Statistically, he’s an All-Star. Says so on his page at the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com. I’m betting, however, that definition begins change shortly and the tipping point will be an All-Star bonus that a penny-pinching team refuses to pay to a star who elected not to attend the All-Star Game without just cause. Chances are the label will stick, the bonus will be paid and that’s too bad.

A player who chooses not to go, shouldn’t lose the label All-Star.

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Q: The Post-Dispatch reported recently seven Cardinals who will become free agents after this season. No mention was made of these six — Aaron Miles, Jorge Sosa, So Taguchi, Larry Bigbie, Jose Vizcaino and Josh Hancock. Will they be free agents? Since none of these six came up through the organization and are not on more than a one-year contract, will they be free agents? If a player comes up through the organization, I believe the team has control over that player for six years. Am I correct? Jim Edmonds also could become a free agent, so that would mean at least 14 players could be on the open market.

–  Larry Harnly  
Springfield, Ill.

DG: You are correct. Just don’t be locked into the “organizational” thinking, because trades — like the Miles’ deal — transfer those rights. Hancock is a different situation, but not entirely different. It’s been reported several times over the past couple weeks that Jim Edmonds’ representative is working out a two-year extension with the club. Check him off the list, in pencil. Jorge Sosa is under contract for next season. Aaron Miles and Josh Hancock have renewable contracts and only the Cardinals non-tendering them will make them free agents. The rights the players have is a fixed salary that their renewed contract must have. Ditto with Larry Bigbie, but he’ll probably be non-tendered so that he can be re-signed (by the Cardinals?) to a minor-league deal. Jose Vizcaino is a free agent. Same with Preston Wilson. Both were released players signed through the end of the 2006 season and both have enough time in to be outright free agents. So Taguchi likely will be a free agent. The Cardinals have many options to re-sign him, but he has the look of a player who will be non-tendered. After 2004, that was the Cardinals approach to work out a more financially appropriate deal for Taguchi. With Schumaker ready, it seems less of a given this winter.

It’s hard to find many givens this winter.

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THIS WEEK’S PostCards QUESTION

Inspired by the story I read to the little man several times a week: What is the  quirky misidentification- or, for lack of a better word, typo – in the famous ballad of the republic sung in the year 1888 “Casey at the Bat”?

Write postcards@post-dispatch.com with your answers.

LAST PCQ

As a minor-leaguer Tyler Johnson, now a lefty specialist in the Cardinals’ bullpen, took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He lost the no-hitter because of a scoring rule - not because of an actual hit. How is this possible?

There were no correct answers, so I recast the question. Write postcards@post-dispatch.com and we’ll have a double-barreled PCQ answer section next week.

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Questions permitting, every week during offseason, The Post-Dispatch’s baseball writer Derrick Goold will answer fans’ emails in a mailbag called PostCards, published in the Bird Land blog. To comment and discuss PostCards visit the Bird Land blog on StlToday.com. To submit questions write postcards@post-dispatch.com or file them as a comment on the blog. All questions should include your name and hometown.

PostCards will run online exclusively at StlToday.com.

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