TOWER GROVE — Earlier this week, MLBTradeRumors.com — a site that has become an essential clearinghouse and one-stop shop of reports, rumors and, yes, even tweets this time of year — handicapped the 2010 Free Agents by ranking them No. 1 through No. 50 and predicting where each of those free agents will land when the dust and dollar signs clear. Granted, such guesses are little more than blindfolded pin-the-player-on-the-donkey games this time of year.

You’ve got the general direction to follow, but not much else to go on for awhile

It’s no surprise that St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday is the No. 1 free agent available, according to the MLBTradeRumors list. That’s a rather universal opinion. And it’s no surprise that MLBTR predicts he won’t be a Cardinal at the end of the winter. (They’ve got him going to the New York Mets.) What is somewhat of a surprise is that the Cardinals — who enter this winter with millions coming off the books and a thirst for a big bat and, apparently, a willingness to pay for a premium one — doesn’t do too well in the other predictions either.

Not John Smoltz. He’s going to Detroit.

Not Mark DeRosa. He’s going to Philadelphia.

Not Joel Pineiro. He’s going to … oh, wait, yes, yes on Pineiro.

MLBTR suggest that Pineiro will re-sign with the Cardinals. He is the 15th-best free agent in the site’s top 50, and he is the only one they predict will sign with the Cardinals. Something tells me they have their eyes on signing a few more — and the local franchise has a better chance to do so than the site is given it.

It’s been about a month since the last edition of the 10@10, and, to be candid, it’s been a little tricky to find where the 10@10’s best place is in the offseason. I mean, it cannot hope to keep up with the exclamation-point tsunami that washes ashore every so often, so why even try? Let Jay Leno’s 10@10 try. How do we take a concept that fits well as a morning primer for that night’s game and translate into a period with plenty of news, plenty of excitement and nary a game to speak of? Still taking suggestions. But this makes some sense: Ten things. Ten things that relate to the news at hand. Ten things that go up around 10 o’clock on days when there are 10 things to discuss.

(For a look at how Holliday compares to two of Scott Boras’ other clients who signed big deals, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira, check out yesterday’s novella here at Bird Land.)

While this city-wide rush to bid Holliday farewell is premature — don’t be so sure he’s gone; a) it’s early in the process; b) rhetoric is more prominent than offers right now, by rule; c) there are some who believe that the best offer Holliday gets will be from the Cardinals (especially if the Yankees keep their distance) — it’s always a wise idea to consider alternatives.

There’s been plenty of that in the paper, and on sports radio. But there are other options out there.

Some mentioned earlier in a Round 2. Some obvious. Some not so obvious. And here are 10 of them.

1. JASON BAY, OF: From the Dept. of the Obvious Dept., there’s the other impact bat available in the free agent market. The one that is slightly older, hits for less of an average and probably a tad more power and is going to get that AL East stamp of approval. Barret Jackman’s buddy from Trail, B.C., offers a middle-of-the-order hitter who could bat cleanup for the Cardinals and could probably be had for fewer years than Holliday. The annual value of his contract is expected to be less, too. If Holliday is 1a, Bay is 1b. But the jostling and bidding for him won’t be any less intense than it will be for Holliday.

2. XAVIER NADY, OF: An example of the significant dropoff from Holli-Bay to the other free agents, Nady is coming off of injury and it’s not like he was a surefire producer when he was healthy. My mentioning of him here, on Twitter and elsewhere has been met with resistance. Still, Nady offers some real bang for the buck as a low-risk/some-reward investment. Cannot ignore his run of back-to-back 20 homer seasons. Sure there’s also the 97-RBI season he had in 2008 with Pittsburgh and the New York Yankees, but that’s one number, loaded with context. The thing that catches my eye: Nady slugged .495 in the 2007-08 seasons. Away from PNC Park, he slugged .513 in 628 at-bats. Of the full-season regulars for the Cardinals this past season, only Albert Pujols had a higher slugging percentage than that. Ryan Ludwick’s was .447.

3. JERMAINE DYE, OF: He hasn’t given into the the DH option yet, starting at least 130 games in the outfield for six consecutive seasons. But you can put him Vlad Guerrero and Hideki Matsui in a similar class — left field options who aren’t necessarily built for the National League at this point in their career. He struggled in the second half, hitting .179/.293/.297 in his final 212 at-bats of 2009. Dye has been linked to the Cardinals before. His agent is St. Louis-based and his buddy Mark Mulder sometimes spoke about trying to get Dye in red during his time with the Cardinals. There was a time when this seemed like a solid fit, but making the move now is probably two, three years too late.

4. CHONE FIGGINS, 3B: Colleague Bernie Miklasz has taken up the Chone Cause and I can think of one really good reason why the Cardinals absolutely must sign him: His promise. Remember when he parachuted into the All-Star Game as a last-second addition for the American League? He swore then that if he got into the game, he would honor a hero of his by doing a back flip. Yes, he’ll bring the back flip back, Ozzie-style. Oh, and he’d be a jolt of much-needed on-base percentage for the Cardinals. (Which really, that’s the offseason priority for the Cardinals — they need to be down with OBP. You down with OBP*?) Figgins is a tremendous complementary player, but he’s a better fit at third than left field for the Cardinals. For me, the addition of Holliday and Figgins makes the Cardinals a favorite. The addition of Figgins still leaves them searching for a bat who can drive him and Pujols in when they’re both on base.

*ASIDE: This is a topic for another discussion, to be sure, but it makes sense that the best way to keep Pujols’ bat in the game is to put guys on base ahead of him. If there’s no room, there’s no way an opposing team can IBB Pujols. That said, the notion of “protection” is better framed as deterring. Walk Pujols? Here’s someone who is going to drive him in. The Cardinals are looking for a bat that can take advantage of Pujols being on base and make teams pay for their decision. It’s not just about keeping Pujols’ bat in the game, it’s about making most of him being on base.

5. HIT THE NON-TENDER BIN: One of the most intriguing non-tender candidates for this winter is already off the board as the Boston Red Sox traded for Florida outfielder Jeremy Hermida. There will be others. Not one, of course, rises to the level of the bat that can hit cleanup, but there may be one or two that could populate a competition for playing time and maybe, just maybe, strike lightning. Conor Jackson is coming back from injury (Valley fever) and is crushing in the Dominican Winter League, hitting .429/.565/.619 in 20 games. Makes sense for Arizona to tender him a contract but it comes at a price: He made $3 million last year. Other possibilities are Jeff Francoeur and Delmon Young, though either is a candidate to stay with their teams like Jackson. Colorado third baseman Garrett Atkins is another candidate. He is available for trade first. The date for teams to tender contracts is Dec. 12. Watch for that secondary market to develop.

6. TRAWL FOR A TRADE: Colleague Joe Strauss, Mr. Tsunami, has mentioned Washington outfielder Adam Dunn as a possible trade candidate and one that he believes is a good fit for the Cardinals. That kind of power behind Pujols would offer the necessary threat, and there is a growing sense that Dunn won’t be too pricey when it comes the players it would take to get him and all of his $12-million salary for 2010. Dunn might need a defensive rescue or two out in left field, but he likely makes up for those mishaps with sheer pop. Colorado has quelled the rumors of Brad Hawpe’s availability, though reports still indicate the Rockies are listening in case they hear something that will be worth the former LSU star.

7. JOHNNY DAMON, OF: Just think of the conversations the Cardinals front office could have with agent Scott Boras in the coming weeks. After Holliday, they can talk Damon. After they talk Damon, they can talk Nady. After Nady, maybe they can see how things are going for Rick Ankiel. Damon isn’t the speedy outfielder that he was on the other side of the state, but he is still a lefthanded-hitting outfielder ready to play left field and get on base. OBP, friends. At 36, he may be the shortest-term commitment of the top LF options. Damon can still slash and hit for good power and steal third when no one is covering and get on base at a .363 clip (his average in the past four seasons). The Cardinals’ No. 2 hitters combined for a .316 on-base percentage. That ranked 13th in the league.

8. MARK DeROSA, 3B/LF/2B: Tempted to go way off the map here and mention Marco Scutaro, the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop who could also play third and second base, if you could sell him on a switch.  One drawback: He’s a Type-A free agent. DeRosa is a Type-B. And while that doesn’t impact the Cardinals so much — they would be, ostensibly, getting the pick in return for him signing elsewhere — it does expand the pool of teams that will be interested in DeRosa. There’s more to talk about in that regard later. To the point of this list, DeRosa could be an everyday player without an everyday position for the Cardinals, and, while he’s not the OBP candidate the others are, he would add depth to the lineup and to the roster. Needed depth. He could be LF if Holliday isn’t. He could 3B, if David Freese falters. He could be a platoon with Skip Schumaker at 2B. There are a lot of places he could play in the field and if he can repeat that 20-homer, 80-RBI-like season then the most important position he could play is as an RBI threat in the lower half of the order.

9. FORGET HITTERS, GET PITCHERS: The Cardinals are already locked into long-term contracts with three of their pitchers, Cy Young candidates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright and righthander Kyle Lohse. The Cardinals aren’t likely to pursue any of the bigger-name pitchers (i.e., John Lackey) with cornerstones and contracts like the ones already in their rotation. That said, there is a second-tier of pitchers that could add punch and depth to the rotation. Sure, John Smoltz is there. But so too is Randy Wolf and Vicente Padilla (who recently pulled a Cheney, you may have read) and then a couple options moves like Rich Harden and Brad Penny.

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak has described to several us how this free-agent market offers a lot of opportunities to improve the team. With the trades they made this past season, the Cardinals are in position to rely more on the free-agent market to build the team than they have in the past.  There is the big bat out there that they want to retain. Of course. Mozeliak has also said there are creative alternatives.

Most of them, however, aren’t going to hit cleanup. So …

10. NOTHING: There is a school of thought out there that Holliday is not only the best fit for the Cardinals but the only fit for what they need available in the free-agent market. Not getting Holliday doesn’t eliminate the Cardinals from the 2010 season before it starts. No way. It just changes the type of lineup, the type of team, the type of direction they will have to head to contend in 2010.

It’s so early in the process. Surprises are ahead. The many directions this could go are fascinating.

What would you do?

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