FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The best way that St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa believed he could keep Skip Schumaker’s bat in the lineup was to put his glove to use elsewhere.

The official pronouncements came in the past week from GM John Mozeliak and La Russa that Schumaker will open the regular-season as the Cardinals’ starting second baseman — will, in fact, be now designated on the roster as a capital-I Infielder. Schumaker openly…

TOWER GROVE — When it comes to the St. Louis Cardinals, the question “Who’s on first?” is rhetorical. You might as well ask who is hitting eighth. What’s going on at second was discussed in this morning’s Post-Dispatch with Joe Strauss’ latest dispatch from Jupiter, Fla. But when it comes to wondering which player will be at third base on Opening Day …

Don’t know.

Just yet.

The 11th-hour news that incumbent third baseman Troy Glaus required a January surgery…

DOWNTOWN — The St. Louis Cardinals top prospect Colby Rasmus resisted the team’s request that he go play winter ball, make up for the at-bats he lost to injury last season and regain some momentum for the 2009 spring training. He said he needed a break.

On Sunday, he showed what he did with that time away.

A significantly bulked-up Rasmus arrived at the 13th annual Winter Warm-up on Sunday, explaining his winter was spent with the weights,…

TOWER GROVE — For the third consecutive year the blog will be coming live this weekend from the Winter Warm-up in downtown St. Louis. Throughout the three days of the event, I’ll update the blog with comments from players, quotes from prospects (10 or so will be in attendance), tidbits from executives, the scene at the fest and, of course, news (i.e., pre-arbitration signings).

A wrinkle to the coverage this year will be the Twitter feed….

TOWER GROVE — The big baseball headlines this morning on the West Coast cast a shadow here in St. Louis as that Orange County baseball club — the Angels of Anaheim — have officially withdrawn from the courtship of first baseman Mark Teixeira, the best ballplayer remaining on the free-agent market.

Numerous reports, including this one from Yahoo! Sports, say that the Angels have removed their eight-year offer to the first baseman. Boston reached a similar…

TOWER GROVE — The Cardinals are close to acquiring a new face while continuing a familiar trend.

Late last night the news broke, by Joe Strauss here at The Post-Dispatch and by Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic over at the San Diego Union-Tribune, that the Cardinals had traded for San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene. Greene will become the St. Louis Cardinals’ fourth different everyday shortstop since the start of the 2004 World Series. And, his contract gives every…

TOWER GROVE — It was one of the shortest and more direct answers St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak gave in his chat this afternoon here at StlToday.com. The question was essentially who was going to be the next Kyle McClellan, the next “surprise player in the system” who could turn March into a spot on the big-league roster for 2009.

Mozeliak’s answer:

John Mozeliak: Don’t rule out Tyler Greene, he is having a strong Arizona…

TOWER GROVE — A few hours after pitching coach Dave Duncan agreed to a contract for the 2009 season, I asked him if the biggest question facing the Cardinals pitching staff this offseason was the ninth inning, and just who was going to handle it.

“I think so,” he said.

As long as there has been the modern model of the closer, manager Tony La Russa and Duncan have preferred to build their bullpen around that ninth-inning…

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse will miss his scheduled start Sunday to undergo an exam that could be the harbinger of a contract extension with the team for the pending free-agent pitcher, officials and sources said Sunday morning.

Lohse was scheduled to start Sunday in the season finale against Cincinnati, but early that morning the Cardinals announced Brad Thompson would start the game at Busch Stadium. Manager Tony La Russa said Lohse was having an exam with…

DOWNTOWN — Had one groundball turned out differently, had it not slipped through his hands as rapidly and frustratingly as the save did a few moments later, maybe the questions would have been different.

But Tuesday is another blown save for the Cardinals’ bullpen — No. 27, for those keeping score — and means another inquisition for the club’s closer, Jason Isringhausen.

Isringhausen entered his second save opportunity since returning to the role with a three-run lead…

DOWNTOWN — The deal was announced late Tuesday night, it came together swiftly Tuesday afternoon, but the Cardinals had been eyeballing Felipe Lopez as an answer to their middle infield quandary for at least a couple weeks.

Shortly after the switch-hitting utility infielder cleared waivers Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals called, offered and signed Lopez for the stretch drive. Lopez lands on the Cardinals’ bench a week after the Washington Nationals released him. To make room for…

TOWER GROVE — Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti called Manny Ramirez the “caliber of player” who is “tough to turn down at this time of year”, but added there was an additional benefit of making a blockbuster move.

It was the message an appreciative front office sent to its players.

“It’s important to give (something to) the players who have played all year long for you,” Colletti said. ”This time of year, the front office has…

TOWER GROVE — The day after his 0-for-5, three-strikeout game against the New York Mets, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols still had no interest in talking about it. He didn’t take the field for batting practice. He spent a good amount of time just sitting in front of his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse, rolling a bat around in his hands. Every so often he would thump the barrel of the bat with the base of…

NEW YORK — Cardinals center fielder Rick Ankiel felt a pull in his torso while legging out a double in the eighth inning Saturday and was a scratch from Sunday’s game because of what the team has called an abdominal strain.

Manager Tony La Russa had planned to start both Ankiel and Skip Schumaker in the outfield Sunday — two lefthanded hitters even against lefty start Johan Santana because “he’s hard on both” sides of the…

NEW YORK — By dealing the righthander who just a few years ago was the organization’s top prospect, the Cardinals finally found the change of scenery that Anthony Reyes has been looking for.

The Cardinals traded Reyes from their Triple-A rotation to Cleveland for a minor-league reliever on Saturday. In the deal, the Cardinals received reliever Luis Perdomo, a 24-year-old righthander, and cash.

“Obviously, we were getting to a point where we had to make a decision with…