TOWER GROVE — In his office after Tuesday night’s loss, Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha told a group of us reporters that the “second-most important” at-bat of the Cardinals’ 7-6 victory was by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

Apparently, Molina was the first to recognize that.

Of course, the most important at-bat of the game was Matt Holliday’s immediately after Macha opted to “pick his poison” and walk Albert Pujols ahead of the Cardinals’ cleanup hitter….

TOWER GROVE — When the Milwaukee Brewers held their meetings to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitters for this series at Busch Stadium, they invited a pitcher who wasn’t originally scheduled to throw in this series. But, the coaches figured, Braden Looper might have something to offer about his former teammates.

Now they’ll see what he has to offer against his former teammates.

Friday’s rainout forced both teams to reset their rotations. The Cardinals recalled Friday’s starter,…

TOWER GROVE — With less than one month to go before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, there are more than 150 free agents still on the market, including, amazingly, the National League’s starting pitcher from this past year’s All-Star Game, Ben Sheets. From the pool of free agents still out there, It is possible to put together an imposing lineup, with an All-Star at each position, and outfit a pretty compelling rotation.

Not to…

DOWNTOWN — What started as St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa’s standard stumping for Chris Duncan as an “impact” member of the still-crowded 2009 outfielder suddenly became a second nomination in as many months for rookie Colby Rasmus as a key figure in the coming season.

On Monday, La Russa was in town to promote his annual ARF Fundraiser (bring on Lewis Black!) and he spent part of the afternoon with a handful of scribes at Busch Stadium….

WEST COUNTY — The St. Louis Cardinals decision not to offer Braden Looper arbitration by this week’s deadline can be measured in the innings they have to prove they can fill, the dollars they may have saved, and the years of security he may gain.

But don’t forget to count the prospect the Cardinals won’t get.

As a Type B free agent, Looper offered the Cardinals the opportunity to assure a supplemental (i.e., sandwich) round pick in…

TOWER GROVE — This evening at the stroke of midnight on the East Coast the prices for many of the best free agents in baseball will be set by teams deciding whether or not to offer arbitration. Some players are sure to be offered arbitration because of the bounty of draft picks their signings will bring (A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia, for example). Others certainly won’t be, like shortstop Edgar Renteria (the Detroit Tigers made it…

TOWER GROVE — With the subtraction of the salaries for Mark Mulder, Braden Looper, Scott Spiezio, Juan Encarnacion and Jason Isringhausen (though possibly only briefly for him), the St. Louis Cardinals have a raw total of about $29 million in expiring contracts from their 2008 payroll. But presented with the question on whether the Cardinals had $25 million to even $30 million of flexibility for the coming season, an organization official was direct with his answer:

“You might…

TOWER GROVE — St. Louis native David Freese, the Cardinals’ third base prospect on the doorstep of the majors, ripped a grand slam Wednesday night down in Venezuela, where he’s playing winter ball. The homer, a fourth-inning shot off Houston pitcher Kyle Middleton, was his second of the winter season and it drove Caribes de Anzoategui to a 11-4 victory.

Freese has had a few other wins already this winter.

The 25-year-old infielder had a breakout year…

TOWER GROVE — Six members of the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals were among the 65 players who filed for free agency on the first day they could, according to a release from the Major League Baseball Players Association. Filing is a formality that all players, even those pondering retirement or weighing an offer from their previous team, usually do just to be sure the appropriate paperwork is filed if necessary.

The six Cardinals who filed Thursday…

SOUTH GRAND — Would have had the weekly PostCards posted much earlier this morning if the first question — from the sharp, witty and ever-adept keyboard of regular Frank Fuhrig, of course — had not been as much a homework assignment as a question.

It’s written less for a mailbag and more for a syllabus.

One element of the St. Louis Cardinals’ interest/chances in landing San Diego ace Jake Peavy is the amount of money the Cardinals…

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Cardinals’ reluctance to “anoint” Chris Perez as closer seems downright quaint compared to the seesaw Adam Wainwright is riding as he prepares this weekend for his third, and possibly last, rehab appearance.

To start, or not to start, that is the question.

Whether ’tis nobler in the ninth to close and take up an arm against a sea of troubles or … Oh, I’ll stop there before the allusion goes too far afield. But…

DOWNTOWN — A day after pitching well enough to give the bullpen a chance to win the game, lefty Jaime Garcia is headed back to Triple-A so that the Cardinals can add protection to their bullpen.

The Cardinals recalled rookie Mitchell Boggs this afternoon, and the righthander is expected to join the team in time for tonight’s series-opener against Milwaukee. To make room on the roster for Boggs, the Cardinals optioned Garcia to Triple-A Memphis. The…

TOWER GROVE — A day after watching on television as Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen riddled the Houston Astros with sinister curveballs for his fourth save of the season — another in a line of what were no-sweat saves — I was in Houston and asked Isringhausen why so many curves?

“I think it was only five,” Isringhausen said. “Not that many. But now if it jinxes me, I know who to blame. If it’s going good,…

DOWNTOWN — As this Sunday night game careens toward a save situation, it’s fitting that we talk late picks who made it to the majors. Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen wears No. 44 because that’s where he was drafted by the New York Mets — as a position player promptly flipped into a pitcher, a Gen-K pitcher.

That was the spirit of the PCQ asked with last week’s mailbag.

The highest Cardinals’ draft pick to make his major-league…

DOWNTOWN – Not too often the Cardinals wake up on the last day of April with a chance to make a little franchise history. But that’s the case today.

The Cardinals won their 17th game of April last night against the Reds. It came in a 7-2 victory that saw manager Tony La Russa tinker just enough with his lineup to add depth of power and watch it work. That win tied a franchise record for most…