TOWER GROVE — The list of players offered arbitration is in, with 24 free agents getting the notice from their former teams and not one St. Louis Cardinal. While the deadline revealed more about who won’t be a Cardinal in 2009 than who will be, the list of players not offered arbitration will expand the Cardinals’ shopping list.

Houston opted not to give Randy Wolf an arbitration offer and the Astros, with Mike Hampton on the way, may not pursue the lefty at all because of tightening budget concerns, according to reports. The group of teams interested in Joe Beimel could gain focus now that the arbitration deadline has passed, though the St. Louis Cardinals have not been among the dozen teams to make that call. They remain in pursuit of a couple lefties, but so do many teams. Cardinals current GM John Mozeliak and Cardinals former GM Walt Jocketty continue to duel over lefties (first Trever Miller, now Arthur Rhodes, next … Trever Miller, again?) And Kerry Wood becomes far more appealing as a reliever with the Cubs not offering him arbitration.

It’s that area, that ninth-inning area, that has become a fascinating and bewildering corner of this market. Two of the relievers identified as low-cost/potential closers did receive arbitration offers — Brandon Lyon and not-so-sleeper Juan Cruz — and the high-end closers are still trying find traction for what they can command. (Cleveland, for example, is eyeing Jason Isringhausen as an option should Brian Fuentes, et. al., soar in price.) The Cardinals have closely guarded their ninth-inning intentions, insisting they want a short-term solution so as not to block the young, up-and-coming righthanders.

The first question in today’s mailbag wonders if there’s a solution already in place.

On with PostCards.

***

RHP Chris Carpenter: Comes back as closer?

Q: DG, I know that Carp’s status is very up in the air for next season, and it depends on nerve tests, how he feels in springs training, etc. I wonder if his arm condition would prohibit him from throwing 200 innings, but maybe he could handle the workload of a reliever. I think a dominant starter is more important than a closer, so I disagree when people suggest Adam Wainwright as a closer. But if Carpenter can’t handle the workload of a starter, he could be a shutdown closer, John Smoltz-style. I know it’s all dependent on his health, just some wishful thinking. Would you take Carp as your closer if he can’t be your ace?

– Mark, St. Louis

DG: I wondered the same thing a few weeks ago. The Cardinals certainly have an opening in the ninth inning they’d like to fill, and the market for starting pitchers is far deeper and more Cardinal-friendly than it is for closers. There is also a tidy logic to having Carpenter bridge the ninth inning from last year’s closer-by-committee to the future of Chris Perez and/or Jason Motte. So, I asked around.

The prevailing opinion is that, first, Carpenter has to show he’s healthy before any role is determined. Second, while you bring up an excellent point with the innings, there also isn’t any certainty that Carpenter could rebound from day-to-day or even every-other-day and be available to close games. His ability to recovery from appearance to appearance would be as big a concern as how many innings he could throw. Carpenter will have a nerve conduction test done in the near future and the Cardinals will know more about Carpenter’s rehab and what can be expected from Carpenter in 2009. The Cardinals have their fingers crossed that he’ll be in the rotation to start the year. It would be a mistake for them not to prepare a backup plan because the uncertainty of Carpenter’s injury and the track record says, at least, he’ll miss some time in 2009, no matter the role.

***

Q: Thanks for answering all our questions in your column. Does Colby Rasmus have another year before he has to be placed on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft?

– Lynda

DG: As a player drafted out of high school, Rasmus has an extra year before he has to be added to the 40-man roster than say, Mark McCormick or Tyler Greene, two college kids drafted in the same year as Rasmus. The break is determined by the player’s age. If he’s 18 or younger when he’s signed, that player has one more year than a player 19 or older before being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Rasmus will be on the 40-man roster easily before the deadline approaches this time next year.

***

Q: Albert Pujols has an outrageously low strikeout rate for a hitter with his power. Imagine how low his strikeouts would be if he didn’t work the count so much and actually swung at the first pitch once in a while, instead of taking so many first-pitch strikes. Where does his strikeout rate rank, especially among power hitters (is that stat available per plate appearance, or just per AB)? Also, does his lack of strikeouts lead to Pujols hitting into relatively more double plays? As much as I hate the American League style of baseball, I’ve often wondered if it’s actually a bad thing when your big RBI guys like Ryan Ludwick or Adam Dunn strike out a lot. Ryan Howard is infamous for his strikeouts, but it’s not like he’s gonna leg out an infield single. Thanks and regards,

– Frank Fuhrig, Arlington, Va.

DG: Nothing like a number-crunching to pass the time between phone calls. Thanks, Fuhrig. Last year, Ludwick was one of the best players in baseball at not grounding into double plays. Makes sense. The strikeout-flyball hitter isn’t going to put too many balls on the ground and, therefore, isn’t going to bounce into many double plays. I’m not sure that’s a path to follow. The strikeouts per at-bat, however, is an worthwhile stat to dig into. So, I pulled out the trusty yellow legal pad and did some calculating. Here are the top 10 home run hitters from the majors last season and their numbers (note: BB/K is a cool ratio to consider because it does place intentional walks against those strikeouts, and it may be a stronger number than AB/K, which is also included):

PLAYER … HR … Ks … BB/K … AB/K

Ryan Howard … 48 … 199 … 0.41 … 3.07 (or, one K every 3.07 AB)

Adam Dunn … 40 … 164 … 0.74 … 3.15

Carlos Delgado … 38 … 124 … 0.58 … 4.82

Manny Ramirez … 37 … 124 … 0.70 … 4.45

Albert Pujols … 37 … 54 … 1.93 … 9.70

Ryan Ludwick … 37 … 146 … 0.42 … 3.68

Miguel Cabrera … 37 … 126 … 0.44 … 4.89

Ryan Braun … 37 … 129 … 0.33 .. 4.74

Adrian Gonzalez … 36 … 142 … 0.52 … 4.34

Carlos Quentin … 36 … 80 … 0.83 … 6.00

Power + Contact: Don Mattingly's 1985 among the best.

Of the eight players with at least 37 home runs this past season, Pujols had by far the fewest strikeouts. In fact, he had 70 fewer strikeouts than the next closest slugger. Heck, that’s a couple months for a few of these guys. Pujols takes great pride in being a hitter first and a home-run hitter somewhere else down the line. He has a revulsion to striking out. He also has been one of the consistently best at producing high quantities of homers and low Ks.

Using Baseball-Reference.com’s muscular Player Index, I did the following search: Homers greater than 35, sorted by fewest strikeouts, since the expansion era (1961 to present). The results were, ahem, striking. Pujols has three of the top 12 seasons, his 2008 season ranks 12th in this sorting, and he is the only active player to rank at all in the top dozen:

1. Barry Bonds, 2004 … 45 HR, 41 K
2. Don Mattingly, 1985 … 35 HR, 41 K
3. Bonds, 1994 … 37 HR, 43 K
4. Bonds, 2002 … 46 HR, 47 K
5. Hank Aaron, 1969 … 44 HR, 47 K
6. Albert Pujols, 2006 … 49 HR, 50 K
7. Bob Horner, 1980 … 35 HR, 50 K
8. Don Baylor, 1979 … 36 HR, 51 K
9. Aaron, 1973 … 40 HR, 51 K
10. Pujols, 2004 … 46 HR, 52 K
11. Larry Walker, 1999 … 37 HR, 52 K
12. Pujols, 2008 … 37 HR, 54 K

***

Q: I saw that in the comm. prospect poll today that you had Tyler Greene listed as a SS/2B. Here is my question. What are the chances that the Cardinals go all out at shortstop with whatever middle infield money we were going to use between SS and 2B and then let Greene play 2B. I didn’t realize he was being considered at 2B. John Mozeliak has already kind of said that he could be in the mix for a roster spot next year when he was asked about surprise candidates for next years roster. I would be totally OK with TG at 2B and a Michael Young or a Raphael Furcal at SS.

– Jeff Strawn, Southaven, Miss.

DG: Greene packed several gloves for Arizona this past fall and saw time at shortstop, third base and second base. He’ll come to big-league spring training with a chance to show what he can do at a variety of positions. Don’t mistake that for the Cardinals grooming him for a bench spot in the big leagues. He’ll be given the chance to win a job, sure — Mozeliak has said as much — but it’s more likely that Greene offers depth at several positions, like Brendan Ryan has the past couple seasons. Greene would have to leapfrog a few players to win a starting job. That’s a tall task for rookie infielder in his first spring. Only thing taller? Right now, that would be one of those two shortstops you mention starting at short for the Cardinals next season.

***

Q: I know that Brad Penny was injured this past year and very much had an off year for him. I haven’t heard much on the Hot Stove reports about interest in him. Is there any and in your opinion would he be a great 2 or 3 in the rotation at Busch? He had a great power arm and was effective a year or so ago.

– Mike, Tulsa, Okla.

DG: Perhaps the Mike Hampton deal provides some direction here. Hampton reportedly has a deal in place with Houston, pending a physical (those magical words). The Cardinals weren’t interested. File this under Lessons Learned. If the Cardinals go after a starting pitcher, it is most likely that they will pursue first a healthy arm, one they know can be counted on to make starts. They have one question mark in their rotation. They know what it’s like to have a several. As Mozeliak has said, they don’t want to “travel that path” again.

The Dodgers declined a $9.25-million option on Penny. The righthander, annual among the hardest throwers in the game, had three different turns on the disabled list last summer. The reason — and maybe this would have been a shorter answer — shoulder problems.

***

Q: Mr. Goold, I liked the whole Mount Cardsmore thing but being more proud than anything else what other team anywhere has an all-time line up to play heads up vs:

-Ist Albert Pujols
-2nd Rogers Hornsby
-3rd Ken Boyer
-SS Ozzie Smith
-Left Lou Brock
-Center Joe Medwick
-Right Stan “The Man” Musial
-Catcher Tim McCarver
-SP Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Dizzy Dean, Grover Cleveland Alexander
-Closer take your pick Bruce Sutter or Lee Smith.

I’ve though about this for awhile and really do not think any other team competes with the above bt I’d be happy to hear your comments. I am a very avid Redbird fan living in Tokyo Japan where the Giants here nor the Hanshin Tigers could do it either. … PS: I’d take Jack Buck and Harry Caray in the pressbox over anyother duo as well. Yoroshuku = Kind regards.

– John S., Washington University graduate living in Tokyo

DG: Not a bad lineup, indeed. Would be hard for more franchises to match that right side of the infield, and defense would be the hallmark of any all-time Cardinals team. There’s probably a Yankees lineup that would cause problems — Ruth, Gehrig, Gordon, Mantle, Guidry, Gossage, Rivera, Ford, Jeter –and very few others. One web site is attempting to answer this age-old debate with a simulated league. As mentioned in here before, Seamheads.com has asked a selection of writers, authors and other baseball people to participate in a historical league featuring the all-time rosters from all 30 (plus) franchises.

Got an email today: The rosters are starting to take shape. You can see the team I’m in charge of by clicking here. Not quite the equal of the lineup described above.

***

Powered by questions, Q&As and chats, Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold will answer fans’ emails in 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.

Questions can also be asked at Bird Land @ Facebook, or over at my “bird feed” on Twitter.

PostCards will run online exclusively at StlToday.com.

-30-