FORT MYERS, Fla. — For the most part, every player I’ve approached this spring with the 20 or so questions that make up The P-DQ has gamely taken the time to answer them. Sometimes they breeze through them with short, precise answers. Sometimes they labor over them, crafting an answer. Often they draw a crowd of teammates who encourage or needle their answers.

And then there was Dustin Pedroia.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman, reigning American…

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — During his daily morning briefing with the media today, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon said he was reading a copy of Branch Rickey’s book last year and realized that before Rickey, Rogers Hornsby and Sam Breadon came along the Cardinals weren’t much. And, yet, Maddon went on to say the Cardinals now standout as one of the most successful franchises of the past century.

“It’s very complimentary” that people now talk…

JUPITER, Fla. — What with its keystone combination of Rogers Hornsby and Ozzie Smith leading the way — batting .346 and .325, respectively — and center fielder Jim Edmonds topping the team with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs, the St. Louis Cardinals would appear to be a virtual juggernaut in the virtual world of Seamheads.com’s (simulated) Historical League.

And, yet, the ‘Birds are struggling. Could be that injury to Stan Musial.

Hall of Famer Rick Hummel is at…

TOWER GROVE — About a week ago, Baseball America slipped me the information that for the first time since they began publishing their rankings of overall minor-league systems the St. Louis Cardinals would reach the top 10, finishing eighth in a poll and discussion of editors there at BA. Since then, there has been a, ahem, tsunami of questions and criticisms.

The general theme of those comments has been: What does it mean, and what does it…

TOWER GROVE — A year ago, the handful of available Japanese free agents — the most coveted of whom turned out to be outfielder Kosuke Fukudome — reinforced the notion that the St. Louis Cardinals needed to expand and improve their ability to scout the other side of the Pacific Rim. With a few hires geared specifically to enhance their ability to evaluate and sign Japanese free agents, the Cardinals have in the past 12 months…

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Coast cast a shadow here in St. Louis as that Orange County baseball club — the Angels of Anaheim — have officially withdrawn from the courtship of first baseman Mark Teixeira, the best ballplayer remaining on the free-agent market.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

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 — In this crowded field of mailbags and Q&As and message boards and chats and blogs there are only so many questions about Skip Schumaker playing second base to fuel so many different give-and-take platforms. Good thing PostCards has Frank Fuhrig.

The mailbag was loaded with questions answered better elsewhere or answered often before, but on election day into the hopper Fuhrig fired this gem: Who manages the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010?

The poll…

TOWER GROVE — When I found myself trying to decide between Miguel Batista and Aaron Cook as my No. 5 starter while others were wondering if Cy Young or Steve Carlton would fill out their rotation or whether Randy Johnson has a place in their bullpen, I knew I was out of my league.

In the coming weeks, we’ll have Opening Day of the Seamheads.com Historical Baseball League. Bill James’ all-time Boston Red Sox roster will face Curt…

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…

TOWER GROVE — As if the first major-league team ever to call the Mountain Time Zone home wasn’t enough in April 1993, the Colorado Rockies decided to pick up a gift for the baseball-starved region on their way back from spring training: Dale Murphy.

For those of us who grew up opening wax packs — when some still had bubble gum, buddy — or thumbing the red off the controller while playing RBI Baseball, Murphy was…

SOUTH GRAND — So much of what the Cardinals consider doing and end up doing this offseason to improve their roster will be watched and judged through the Chris Carpenter prism.

When Carpenter is healthy, so are the Cardinals’ chances.

When he is not … Well, that is the question presented to the Cardinals this season as they choose whether they will build a team on the hope that Carpenter won’t be limited by the nettlesome nerves…

TOWER GROVE — Former Cardinal Joe Torre, a Hall of Fame manager by any stretch of the definition, is one of 10 former players announced this afternoon as finalists for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame through the new veterans’ selection process.

Cooperstown announced the list Tuesday, and the 10 finalists will be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction in July 2009. They will need to get 75 percent of the vote from…

Don Gutteridge, the last living member of the Gas House Gang and the 1944 St. Louis Browns pennant-winning club, died Sunday at his Pittsburg, Kan., home, where he’s remembered as a “baseball icon” and a recent author. He was 96.

Gutteridge played 12 seasons in the major leagues, starting as a Cardinals’ farmhand who made his debut in 1936 and continuing through turns with the Browns, the Boston Red Sox and finally, in 1948, the Pittsburgh…

DOWNTOWN — Cardinals first-round pick Brett Wallace continues a meteoric rise through the minor-league ranks with the announcement Tuesday that he will be one of two 2008 first-round picks to play in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll share the left side of the infield with the other.

And he’ll be playing for a familiar skipper — his current manager, Pop Warner.

Wallace, taken 13th overall and hitting ever since, headlines a group of eight players from the…