CREVE COEUR — They are at very different stages in their careers, at very different positions and they were talking about two very different subjects, but St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter and minor-league outfielder Tyler Henley hit on the same theme during interviews I had with them Wednesday.

In discussing how his career changed when he won the Cy Young Award back in 2005, Carpenter described how expectations changed around him. He wasn’t just the…

TOWER GROVE — As many as seven of the St. Louis Cardinals better prospects must be added to the 40-man roster in the near future or the team will risk losing them through the Rule 5 draft in December. The process of clearing space on the 40-man roster has already begun.

Jarrett Hoffpauir, a Class AAA second baseman, was picked up off waivers late last night by the Toronto Blue Jays. (See the Toronto take on…

TOWER GROVE — Some members of the St. Louis Cardinals brass, including VP/farm director Jeff Luhnow and assistant general manager John Abbamondi, traveled west this week to see the Arizona Fall League and the prospects there in person. They were greeted with a marquee start — against their players.

Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals’ No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft and widely billed as the best pitching prospect to reach the draft in years,…

DOWNTOWN — One of the best bats in the St. Louis Cardinals system and one of the most reliable arms at their minor-league affiliates won the team’s organization awards for 2009. Outfielder/third baseman Allen Craig, who led Class AAA Memphis to a Pacific Coast League championship with his power, won the Player of the Year Award from the team. Righthanded starter Lance Lynn, who had a cameo appearance in Triple-A about a year after he…

TOWER GROVE — The Bird Land Community Top 21’s top 10 is completed, and we’re just about halfway through the annual ranking of St. Louis Cardinals prospects by readers here at the blog. The overarching lessons of the first 10 are two-fold: Voters have adopted the perceived franchise emphasis on winning now/contributing now and the Cardinals system, as a whole, is significantly diluted, even lacking.

Second baseman Daniel Descalso, who had one of a handful of…

TOWER GROVE — Another day, another runoff.

The fallout from the high-end changes to the St. Louis Cardinals’ depth chart of prospects appears to be close votes and very few clear-cut, obvious prospects who stand out above their peers. The vote for No. 9 in the Bird Land Community Top 21 is another example. Tyler Greene and Daniel Descalso are separated by a total of nine votes at last check. Greene has received 29 percent of…

TOWER GROVE — In what probably was the closest vote yet in any Bird Land Community prospect poll, Eduardo Sanchez, the fireballer righthanded reliever, took 52 percent of the vote in the runoff and will be your No. 7 prospect on the Top 21 poll this year. Lance Lynn, the steady starter, will be No. 8. At 4 o’clock St. Louis time on Monday one vote separated the two.

So, I gave the poll another day…

TOWER GROVE — The poll for No. 7 in the Bird Land Community Top 21 jockeyed back and forth all weekend, with some comments even declaring a winner — or, rather, declaring an opinion about the winner — just as the tide shifted. With about 775 clicks counted, Eduardo Sanchez led Lance Lynn by four votes at last check this morning.

Each received 34 percent of the vote and every other prospect is just about 200…

TOWER GROVE — It would be tempting to begin any look at the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen and its search for additional power sources with the fact that the Cardinals relievers had the fewest strikeouts of any bullpen in the National League. Their 340 were the least in the majors by 21 behind Tampa Bay.

While that stat is telling, it’s not entirely revealing.

The Cardinals’ relievers also had to pitch the fewest innings of any bullpen….

TOWER GROVE — The Arizona Fall League is settling into gear, and while Stephen Strasburg is the headliner out at the annual gathering of some of the better prospects in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals have sent some noteworthy names out west. A few are making up for lost time. A few are trying to extend their strong seasons. And more than one is trying to find a way onto the organization’s radar.

Several, as you…

TOWER GROVE — Back in 2003, a high-profile draft-and-follow pitcher who received a stout bonus joined the St. Louis Cardinals and was described this way by Baseball America:

(He) has the highest ceiling of any St. Louis pitching prospect since Rick Ankiel. His fastball usually ranges from 90-92 mph, but it was clocked at 96 in the seventh inning of one start. He could pitch at 92-94 consistently as he fills out, and he has started…

TOWER GROVE — Judging from some of the comments at the tails of the first three Bird Land Community Top 21 polls, one question continues to perplex many voters: What age is too aged to be a prospect?

There is no real answer.

The St. Louis Cardinals, as described by farm director Jeff Luhnow, have studied how high-end players — the top-notch, elite, standout prospects — reach the majors in their early 20s, and how they excel…

TOWER GROVE — A couple summers ago, a young shortstop was available in the June draft that fit so many of the “buckets” that the St. Louis Cardinals look for in a high pick. He played a premium position. He played a position of some need for the team. He had strong, reliable numbers in a major NCAA conference, and his stats projected well through the metrics the Cardinals use help identify future performance. He…

TOWER GROVE — Maybe it’s the time of year, what with the season just ending and the playoffs still going on. Maybe it’s how the season ended, with a St. Louis Cardinals team riding high expectations and fizzling when it mattered most. Maybe it’s a fanbase adopting the win-now attitude shown by the front office.

Maybe it’s just a lack of patience.

Whatever the reason, the Bird Land Community Top 21 is two votes old and already…

CREVE COEUR — It didn’t take long for the Bird Land Community Top 21 to throw its first curveball. Not that it’s a surprise lefthanded starter Jaime Garcia won the No. 1 spot in the readers’ rankings of St. Louis Cardinals’ prospects. It’s just wasn’t close.

That was unexpected.

Garcia pulled away from first-round fireballer Shelby Miller and had more than twice as many votes. As of last check — a few seconds ago — Garcia had…