TOWER GROVE — More than four months into the season and the questions surrounding the Cardinals haven’t changed in tone from the ones PostCards received four months before the start of the season. Oh, the names have changed. The statistics have changed. The situation has changed. But the subject hasn’t.

It’s the pitching, stupid.

As Anthony Reyes works his way toward the fourth inning and his second start in his third audition of the summer, there’s a grab bag of questions about the starting rotation.  Who should be in it? Why someone isn’t in it? And what the Cardinals gave up to get new arms into  it?  There are a lot of unknowns, even now in August, but we do know  one thing: This is not the end of it.

This offseason will be dominated by talk of pitching just like last offseason.

Grab some rosin, and on with PostCards:

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Q: With Chris Reitsma out for the season and the Mariners still in the race, they need a set-up man. Do you think they would consider Troy Percival for Jeff Weaver? I do not think the Cards would want to pay his salary however, so it may be wishful thinking. The Cards are still desperate for starting pitching and with the possible return of Mark Mulder, maybe, just maybe, the Redbirds could make a serious run with a rotation of Braden Looper, Adam Wainwright, Mulder, Anthony Reyes and Weaver. We would have to give up too much to receive any decent starter, and Weaver does seem to respond to what Duncan tells him. Are there any other starters available? Is there any market for Kip Wells or Mike Maroth?

– Gary Schmidt, San Diego

DG: While it’s clear that the Cardinals weren’t eager to swallow a lot of salary — see: Matt Morris – taking on Weaver’s deal wouldn’t have been as daunting. The catch: So many teams were looking for starting pitching and so few teams were willing to trade. Seattle was thought to be the Cardinals chief competition for Morris before Pittsburgh swooped in, and a team looking to deal for a pitcher is rarely willing to deal a pitcher. Weaver was rolling along there, too, before losing his last four decisions.

Weaver generates alot of buzz in Cardinal Nation and it’s obvious why — World Series, you know — but it’s probably  time to come to grips with the idea that the Cardinals and Chris Carpenter and Dave Duncan captured lightning in a bottle with Weaver last fall. Got to believe a return engagement would not be as successful.  

Which brings us to the reason this question resonated — Wells and Maroth. There was only minimal scuttlebutt about the Cardinals shopping either around. The market would have been limited for either. Maroth’s recent struggles would diminish his value. Wells … well … I’m little surprise there wasn’t more chatter about him. I have two gut feels: First, teams called, made offers  and that news didn’t leak out as readily as other rumors. Second, the offers weren’t to the Cardinals liking — in fact where a little like the deal the Cards made with Boston for Joel Pineiro – and the Cardinals believe they need a starter like Wells pitching like he can to climb back in this competition.

The latter part is obvious. We’ll find out if it’s reasonable.

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Q:  I ask you a question last week about bringing some of the Class AA players and you said “the clock starts ticking once a player is put on the 40-man roster”. What does that mean?

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Q: With the recent success of Troy Percival and Tyler Johnson on his way back. Does Ryan Franklin get a shot at starting as well? He may be a better option than some of the current or new reclamation projects underway and with the stronger bullpen, why not?

– MJ, Farley, Iowa

DG: Why not indeed? The Cardinals’ rigid position that Franklin is the setup guy and will not be used in the starting rotation and survived injury, ineffectiveness, inconsistency. The Cardinals have certainly been tempted and held true to their plan. Better to have a known quantity in the eighth to close those leads than to risk blowing him off track by asking him to start. Seems counterintuitive — don’t you want one of your better pitches handling a bigger amount of innings? — but it’s worked when they’ve had leads. They weighed what Franklin does with a lead against what Franklin could do to get the Cardinals a lead and decided to go with the former.

And so the search continues for reliable starting pitcher. Today: Anthony Reyes. Saturday: Joel Pineiro. Next spring … Franklin?  As the  roster and organization stands right now, it appears likely Franklin will go into spring training with a spot in the rotation and the Cardinals will look for a new setup arm (see: minor-league mentioned above) or see if Troy Percival would like to return.

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Q: When the Cardinals obtain players such as Mike Maroth and Joel Pineiro, why can’t the minor leaguer they are giving up be agreed upon at the time of the trade?   Do you think the players on the lists for Detroit and Boston are about the same?   Will Detroit get first pick since that deal was made first?

– Larry Harnly, Springfield, Ill.

DG: Where would the fun be in that? A player to be named later (PTBNL) adds a little intrigue to an otherwise mundane trade, right? In all honesty, it probably has to do with the dealing team wanting more time to gather information or see a sampling of players it can choose from. Sometimes, teams involved in a deal will let an acquired player’s performance or re-signing dictate the level of PTBNL. The deadline for the Maroth PTBNL (Sept. 15) tells us that Maroth returning to the Cardinals for 2008 won’t impact the deal. The players on the two lists will be different. The Maroth PTBNL list includes a pitcher on the 40-man roster, possibly (if Detroit got its druthers) Dennis Dove. Still, for those of you out there who like baseball’s finer quirks, there’s always the chance that Pineiro’s PTBNL list might be specific enough to include three names or 10 names. It could just lay out parameters for a pool decided on later.

Maybe, just maybe, Henry Chiti will have company.

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