TOWER GROVE — While we check around the house to see if anything has been shaken loose, shaken up or shaken down, here are some riffs from the ballpark:

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When David Eckstein became a Cardinal, the team discussed with him a way to increase his arm strength. The shortstop who had a “playable” arm — manager Tony La Russa’s word — and a max-effort motion improved his arm during his three seasons as a Cardinal by going on…

JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue spent some time in Cincinnati with the pitcher who will be a Cardinal if he passes a physical scheduled for Friday here in Jupiter, and LaRue has a familiar take on Kyle Lohse.

“He’s got great stuff,” he said.

As reported by Joe Strauss over at The Post-Dispatch main sports page, the Cardinals have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Lohse, pending a physical that will be held…

JUPITER, Fla. — Since he wasn’t one any more, Cardinals’ pitcher Kyle McClellan didn’t have to attend a relievers meeting earlier this spring, and when all of his former chums were away he seized a chance to mingle.

He pulled up a chair next to Chris Carpenter and asked if the former Cy Young Award winner had a few minutes to answer questions.

They were still talking 40 minutes later.

“We talked strategy,” McClellan said. “Coming out of…

JUPITER, Fla. — No need to dress this up with campaign buttons and bumper stickers. You know the candidates. After the past few days, you certainly are well versed in the issues (See: Miklasz, Bernie).  The Cardinals’ starting rotation has two openings and four leading candidates, one of whom — Matt Clement – has had what the manager agreed was a setback this week.

The Cardinals believe they can get through April and all the way…

DOWNTOWN — The curtain pulled back and the Cardinals’ new third baseman was unleashed to an adoring public.

Or, maybe it was vice versa.

A standing ovation greeted Troy Glaus, the first headliner of the 12th annual Winter Warm-Up. Glaus, acquired this week in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, made his first public appearance as a Cardinal at the Millennium Hotel this morning, shortly before 11 a.m. local time.

“Welcome to baseball heaven!” shouted a few fans.

On…

TOWER GROVE — Unless the Cardinals add a starting pitcher in the coming weeks, they will arrive at spring training with as much hope as guaranteed innings in their starting rotation.

And if the past season taught us anything, hope doesn’t make his scheduled starts.

This is the rotation as I write this blog:

1. Adam Wainwright, RHP
2. Matt Clement, RHP
3. Braden Looper, RHP
4. Joel Pineiro, RHP
5. Mark Mulder, LHP

Mulder is listed as the No. 5 starter because the Cardinals’ April schedule is…

TOWER GROVE — On Monday, the Cardinals and anyone else who coveted him got an eyeful of why Jake Westbrook was destined to be one of the most sought after free agents this coming winter. He held Boston to two runs during 6 2/3 innings of work for the Cleveland Indians.

And, take a breath sinker aficionados (sinkeristas? sinkerthusiasts?), Westbrook coaxed 14 groundouts.

He  got three inning-ending double plays.

No wonder he’s been on the Cardinals’ target list…

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…

TOWER GROVE — When Mark Mulder signed with the Cardinals this past winter, one of the glossed-over results of the deal was the club had its preferred rotation under contract at least through 2008, and potentially through 2009.

Mulder’s signing came after Chris Carpenter’s extension. Braden Looper was moving into the rotation and he’s signed through 2008, and youngsters Adam Wainwright and Anthony Reyes had years to go before being arbitration eligible. The five-man rotation was…

MIAMI — So that second-half surge the Cardinals planned to ride back into the race took a hit on the field (many of them really) and off the field this past weekend in Philadelphia. That’s some tone the Cardinals set for the back stretch.

Poor starts. Errors. Routs.

And that doesn’t include the return of Chris Carpenter, which got delayed because of a setback in his surgically repaired right elbow. Now the Cardinals are braced for Mark…

TOWER GROVE — Two years from today, the midsummer classic — a national holiday as far as I’m concerned — will be in full swing not too far from where I’m writing today’s mailbag. We’ll just be coming off our Home Run Derby hangover and eager for that night’s All-Star Game.

But what will those righthanded sluggers have had to aim at?

Will Ballpark Village be up and vibrant and inviting Albert Pujols to launch a baseball…

DOWNTOWN — Major League  Baseball had a real chance to make a big splash by answering controversy with spectacle at All-Star week in San Francisco.

Instead the Home Run Derby will lack the real juice it could have had.

The inclusion of defending champ Ryan Howard and addition Sunday of Albert Pujols to the eight contenders in Monday’s derby adds a local flair to the annual slugfest. But imagine what could have been. This is the year…

(Or, They Had, They Wanted, They Got, Vol. II)

TOWER GROVE — The Cardinals had such high hopes. From afar they had complimented him. From afar they raved about his ability, his stuff. From afar they saw a talented pitcher yearning for direction, yearning to be outfitted with what he would come to call “a better plan”. From afar they coveted him.

His closeup, however, has been an utter  calamity.

The curious case of Kip Wells continued —…

TOWER GROVE — My fault. Completely my fault. With PostCards moving to a new blog and all of the other online features we’re developing here at The Post-Dispatch, the mailbag has suffered from neglect.

Questions have come in, but answers have not gone out.

So, as I was filling out this  morning’s  New York Times  crossword  puzzle and pondering exactly how to get a mailbag up today — it is Tuesday, after all — I realized a…

DOWNTOWN  – The Cardinals pursuit of pitching this offseason got much of the ink — and rightfully so as the club did what so few other World Series champs have done: renovate a whole rotation — but with the offensive sputters the team has had, I wondered if there was a move not made that would have altered the look of the Cardinals’ lineup.

Manager Tony La Russa, when asked, answered: Well, actually, yes.

In addition to…