MILWAUKEE  – Killing time as I wait for that wake-up call and the flight to New York. Watching the replay of the Atlanta-Philadelphia game. Repeating to myself that it’s always better for a contender to play for the postseason and not worry about retribution, especially when one may vaporize the other.

And I’ve been trying to revive the franchise that was PostCards.

Sure JSL!!!!!! has cut into the mailbag’s audience and reduced the need for these less immediate Q-and-A sessions. The ChatMeister has immediacy going for him. PostCards just has …

Well. Um.

Less exclamation points.

Because as the old man around these parts, it’s outgrown the need for self-promoting punctuation.

(Yes, I saw the questions, Larry, et. al. Thanks for remembering.)

Two more cities remain in the regular season for the Cardinals and there always seem to be more questions as the offseason starts. So the mailbag, after a hiatus, will resume with a weekly schedule — pending questions. The more questions to postcards@post-dispatch.com, the more mailbags. Etc. For example, this week’s features some forecasting … all the way to 2009. The future is where PostCards starts today.

Perhaps JSL!!!!!!!!!!! and back-by-semi-popular-demand PostCards can coexist.

Let’s see. On with PostCards!!!.

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Q: I believe just about everyone has realized (early on) that the playoffs in 2007 won’t be played in St. Louis.   But 2008 doesn’t look much brighter.  With all the talent and highlights that Jim Edmonds has brought to the team since he was brought here, unless he can get healthy he’s a liability to this team. Out of respect for him, Tony La Russa (or any manager) will continue to give him ample playing time provided he says that he is able to play. Chris Carpenter won’t be ready until midseason at the earliest. With these and a number of other issues, the Cardinals need to look to 2009 to be a serious contender again.

By then, Colby Rasmus will be ready to take over center. Carpenter should be ready to bring his Cy Young presence back. Mark Mulder should have an entire year of starts to knock the rust off and be ready to be a solid number two starter. One or both of our Double-A prospect starters should be ready to step into the rotation.  Christopher Perez will most likely have a year of experience learning from Jason Isringhausen and will either be a great setup man or closer for the team.   Instead of wasting prospects and money to try to salvage 2008, the club should focus on 2009 and make a run to the World Series.

– Joshua Dersch, Maryland Heights, Mo.

DG: This is the dilemma facing the Cardinals because there is  no immediate help in the areas they need  bubbling up from the minors — short of Rick Ankiel and possibly Brendan Ryan, as everyday players. The Cardinals need to look outside the organization to restock this team for a 2008 run, and that could get pricey. Or, they could look to deal some of their veterans (or their attractive younger players) for up-and-coming players. Think: The J.D. Drew deal before the 2004 season. That maybe their best route, and that could take on the look of prepping for 2009. The way the Cardinals have declined from 2005 to 2006 to this season screams of an organization in need of an infusion of talent, a new look, a roster renovation.

They like the core, but the core needs to be refurbished.

The best tell on the Cardinals’ focus: It’s exactly as colleagues Joe Strauss and Bernie Miklasz have been writing. If La Russa is back, then he knows ownership and GM Walt Jocketty are going to wheel, deal and spend to build a contender for 2008. If La Russa looks elsewhere or Jocketty joins the job search, the Cardinals are moving toward a long-anticipated shift to building from within. That process will take at least until 2009.

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Q: How can the Cardinals team recover some of the money from the unable to perform players like Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder and others?  If they cannot and if Bill DeWitt Jr. does not make more money available then 2008 will look a lot like 2007. However, Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel, Chris  Duncan, and Brendan Ryan should maintain playing duties and let the Class AAA players play. This will at least be interesting during 2008. In my business world unable to play players would be on workmen’s comp so I can hire others workers. Yes, Carp and Mulder and others would be in trouble with me  financially if they can’t play for a year.

– J. Sanders

DG: Professional sports teams do take out insurance on certain players, usually the highest paid or longest-signed players. In the Cardinals case, this would be Scott Rolen and Albert Pujols and possibly Chris Carpenter. The insurance has a minimum number of days missed (Rolen, for example, won’t come close) and then covers a percentage of the salary after that date. Carpenter would fall in that bin, though it has not been made public how much will be covered.

Allow me to use another sport to offer an example of how this could work for the Cardinals. A few years back, Blues defenseman Chris Pronger had a severe wrist injury that cost him a season. The Blues had an insurance policy on the big lug — who opens the season in Britain this weekend with Anaheim (London … lucky ducks) — and pledged to spend some of that cash saved on upgrades. If memory serves, Martin Rucinsky was part of that equation.  

The Cardinals probably won’t see that same kind of financial bump from their insurance coverages. But they have to expect to spend more in 2008 to fix what went wrong in 2007. That’s not so much insurance as assurance.

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Q: I have known Skip Schumaker since little league. We are very proud of him here in OC. But where do you see his future? He has had a very good year with limited major league time. He is 27 and I would love to see him get a chance somewhere to be a everyday (leadoff?) player and see if he can hit .300 with 500 AB’s.   I think he can. Or unfortunately will he fade away as a backup? Rick Ankiel  seems to get huge accolades for just suiting up but Skip consistently hits over .300 and is sometimes invisible to anyone outside St. Louis. What is the difference between  Skip and say David Eckstein? The position they play?

– Matt S.

DG: Yes, the positions they play. And the side of the plate they hit from. That’s a start, and that’s not to say that Schumaker doesn’t deserve everyday consideration. Schumaker has said for several seasons that he sees himself as a No. 4 outfielder, a So Taguchi type. Manager Tony La Russa has encouraged Schumaker not to pigeon-hole himself into a bench role. He should think bigger, La Russa said this past spring.

Schumaker doesn’t walk enough right now to be a top-of-the-order, everyday player, but he has improved with each season at the plate and he has made the last two opening day rosters. Ankiel gets more pub and more plaudits because he provides power that is traditionally fit for a corner outfield role. Schumaker offers a glove and an average that is more of a center-field profile. And center field is filled in St. Louis.

You mention Eckstein. The better comparison maybe Aaron Miles, minus the switch-hitting.  Miles came to the Cardinals as a backup second baseman and has become a utility infielder who gets gobs of at-bats and is a de factor starter. Schumaker will come to spring training as a backup outfielder at all three positions, but he could easily spin quality and consistent play into a regular role.

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Q: Cardinal pinch hitters have 78 hits already. Is this number approaching a National League or major-league record?

– Mike,  Tenn.

DG: That total is second-most in Cardinals’ history, so any league or big-league records will have to wait for the Cardinals to pass their own record first. The  franchise record is  82, set in 1970. So there’s a chance. (It should be noted that the record could not have been set without the help  of the Cardinals pitching staff.)  

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Q: Other than the pitching woes, which are self explanatory, what do you think accounts for the inconsistency of this offense? It’s literally a “hit or miss” lineup,   alternately great or horrific. It’s maddening.

– Vince Cook, Chicago

DG: Perhaps “alternately” is the wrong word. The offense has had its blips of great. The biggest reason is lack of healthy bodies and lack of healthy bats. Missing  the power of Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds  for most of the season really sapped the Cardinals’ lineup  of its usual depth. Juan Encarnacion and Chris Duncan helped, but even their production left Albert Pujols marooned as the sole provider of bona fide pop.

The Cardinals, a bit to my surprise, are among the lowest strikeout teams in the majors. Where the offensive struggles really reveal themselves are in two statistics and where the Cardinals rank.

Batting Average: .273, 11th in baseball.

Slugging  Percentage: .405, 25th in baseball.

The Cardinals had the second-fewest doubles in the league (and the fewest triples), which essentially made them a station-to-station team. They didn’t steal much, so they needed a string of hits to produce run. They  could not consistently get bunches of runs. They didn’t have the extra-base thump to do so. That, it appears to me,  is the biggest culprit  in the team’s offensive inconsistency. Too many hits were needed to create one run. Not much margin for error.

This team, its lineup, its rotation … none of it was built with much  margin for error.

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Every week during the postseason, The Post-Dispatch’s baseball writer Derrick Goold will answer fans’ emails in a mailbag blog called PostCards, a spin-off of Bird Land. To comment and discuss the mailbag visit the PostCards blog on StlToday.com. To submit questions write postcards@post-dispatch.com or file them as a comment on this blog. With all questions please include your name and hometown.

PostCards will run online exclusively at StlToday.com.

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