TOWER GROVE — The big baseball headlines this morning on the West Coast cast a shadow here in St. Louis as that Orange County baseball club — the Angels of Anaheim — have officially withdrawn from the courtship of first baseman Mark Teixeira, the best ballplayer remaining on the free-agent market.

Numerous reports, including this one from Yahoo! Sports, say that the Angels have removed their eight-year offer to the first baseman. Boston reached a similar point last week, with the owner sending out an email to select reporters that the Red Sox were not longer involved in negotiations for Teixeira. Yet, Boston’s stance is viewed nationally as posturing. The Angels’ stance … carries the whiff of permanence. Pressed on whether Sunday’s we’re-out announcement was part of the game, a tactic of negotiations, The Los Angeles Times quotes an Angels source insisting: “Arte is sticking to his guns on this one.”

Arte, of course, being owner Arte Moreno.

How this impacts the Local Nine is made clear by the very last line of the aforementioned LA Times article. It reads:

They will probably use some of the money budgeted for Teixeira to sign closer Brian Fuentes, who is seeking a three-year, $30-million deal and has said that the Angels are his first choice.

You’ll recognize the name Brian Fuentes, but you may know him better as the Cardinals’ “No. 1 Priority” coming out of this month’s Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

No. 1 Priority: LHP Brian Fuentes

The lefty has an offer on the table from the Cardinals. Though after the market pushed him toward the Cardinals, he and his agents appear to be waiting for the market shift again. Read: They want the deep-pocket Angels involved. Report: They appear to be getting just that. Fuentes told his hometown paper that his No. 1 preference — different than priority — is to close for the Angels. He called the Angels his “first choice.” But in the same article there is also a reference to Fuentes being a fan of Tony La Russa’s Oakland Athletics and that St. Louis, according to the writer, “wouldn’t be bad, either.”

It’s always better to put the same stock in free-agent comments that you do in those from freshly-signed players. (The “I’ve always wanted to be a Cardinal” comment, the “I had a poster of (insert Cardinal here) up in my room and never dreamed I’d wear the same jersey”, etc.)

First choices tend to change this time of year.

Especially when you see what is actually under the tree.

What’s clear is why the Cardinals sought to move quickly on Fuentes  — going from zero chance to crafting an offer in 48 hours or so. They wanted to act while the market was in their favor. The standard of years was set by Francisco Rodriguez three-year deal with the New York Mets and the dollars reset by Kerry Wood’s $20.5-million deal with Cleveland. Those were favorable parameters for the Cardinals, favorable enough that La Russa was quite public with his interest in landing Fuentes as his ninth-inning option for 2009 (and beyond). ESPN’s Buster Olney shared that same read on Fuentes, writing that Fuentes “may eventually have to consider a three-year deal in the $15-18 million range.”

The Angels are a wild card. They have other options. They also have cash to spend.

Their pursuit of Fuentes, however, will have to be tempered by their inability to re-sign Rodriguez. There would seem to be some spinning to do when they explain signing Fuentes in the $30 million-$33 million neighborhood and losing a first-round draft pick to do so, when record-setter Rodriguez went at $37 million. One argument: The Angels will be receiving at least one first-round pick from lost free agents, like Rodriguez and possibly Teixeira.

(Signing Fuentes would cost the Cardinals their first-round pick as well.)

Who really holds the cards — and the Cards — here is the dealer, Fuentes’ agents, the Beverly Hills Sports Council. A fascinating subplot to the closer market is how three of the closers still on the market are represented by the same organization. There are four teams interested in signing a closer: Detroit, Milwaukee, the Angels and the Cardinals. There are three closers being shopped by Beverly Hills: Fuentes, Trevor Hoffman and Jason Isringhausen.

Before Sunday’s Angels’ news, this is what fascinated me: the agents’ hold on the market.

Alternative Closer: RHP Takashi Saito

Fuentes is clearly the best closer available on the market. Takashi Saito offers an intriguing alternative, though his elbow problems overshadow his spot atop the Elias Rankings as the best National League reliever over the past two seasons. From there, Brandon Lyon — mentioned a few times in the Cardinals’ offices — is an option, but so too are the veterans, Hoffman and Isringhausen. The Cardinals are not interested in Hoffman (”We have respect … (but) haven’t talked about Trevor like that,” La Russa said.) and their public comments about Isringhausen are more out of respect than interest (though … ).

Reports have linked Hoffman to the Los Angeles Dodgers and a return to San Diego hasn’t been completely torpedoed. Isringhausen, preparing his surgically repaired elbow to be ready for spring training, certainly has found his way into any conversations involving the other two. That’s what agents do. That’s what this situation allows.

The market will move when Fuentes does. But who is moving the market is fascinating.

The delay since Vegas — while frustrating for John Mozeliak, as Joe Strauss wrote — may pay off for Fuentes now that the Angels will reportedly get involved. It will definitely clarify the opportunities for the two veterans.

HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE NEXT ENTRY.

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