The waiting game continues for the Cardinals _ and Cardinals fans. Many of you are impatient, but a few of you are not. Spring training starts a month from today.

Q: Hello, Commish. I notice that it is taking some time for players, or should I say agents to get contracts signed. Too bad the market is dictating this, but on the other hand I think that it plays well for the Cardinals. I know fans are antsy but we still have a very good ( maybe overachieving) team. Carpenter is starting to play “catch”, great. We got some left-side setup help ( Manning, Miller, Ring) and a couple of young guns ( Motte, Perez) with a couple of veterans ( Franklin, Kinney) that can probably hold down the fort.

My question is: Do you think that it would be wise for the Cardinals to get a pitcher like Ben Sheets and use him as the “sixth pitcher” in a five-man rotation with Carpenter sharing (rotating) the starts? That is, stretch out the starts for a couple of pitchers that may need extra time and more rest to prevent further injury while still giving quality starts. Chances are that all teams will/would have a starter sit at least one (probably more) start/s for whatever reason anyway and we would still have a solid five- man rotation instead of bringing someone up to fill a spot start.

Does this make sense? Provided Sheets gets a one or two year deal loaded with incentives.

Thanks,
Ray from Wisconsin

A: I would just like to have Sheets anyway, whether you would go to six starters or not. But the risk is considerable in a long-term deal. If you could get him for a modest two-year deal with considerable incentives, I would say yes. After all, he did start the last All-Star Game. But would he take that deal? Not yet. And the Cardinals, with Carpenter, Mulder, Clement having failed to deliver as injured pitchers the last few years, are probably running scared of taking on another project.

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Q: What is your predicted NL Central end-of-season standings? And do you think Tony is perhaps just playing mind games again by insisting that Motte and Perez need more seasoning?

Nick Davis in Festus, MO.

A: As of now, I would rank the teams this way: Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh. I really think La Russa believes his closer(s) of the future needs more time before being thrust into the fire on a full-time basis .

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Q: Commish, thank you as always. I understand why the Cards didn’t re-sign Miles, and decided not to increase their offer enough to give Fuentes a hard decision. I didn’t understand why Miles wasn’t tendered. I understand why they didn’t want to give him a two-year deal. He’s the type of player like Eckstein, whose dropoff would be very sudden and not gradual. When they decided to let Lopez go, I naturally thought the wisest decision would be to tender Miles and give Kennedy a capable platoon partner. Without a proven replacement, 2B could be a disaster if Kennedy’s trend of being unable to hit LP continues. Miles also offered a decent enough fill-in at SS when Greene receives his mandatory injury and misses 30+ games.

I thought signing Miller was a smart move, if they signed another LHRP of the same skill set as Miller. His shoulder condition concerned the Cardinals enough to drastically change their offer to him. The Cardinals’ most recent LHRP addition suggests the Cardinals won’t be looking to add another lefty to the pen. From the outside looking in, it looks like the Cardinals have put themselves in a bad position. Miller should be an upgrade from what they had last year, but my point is, going into ‘08, our LHRP looked just as good, maybe even better than it is right now.

My question for you is, how do you rate the Cardinals off-season so far? It just seems to me that the Cardinals lacked direction, and have been on the defensive far more than they have been on the offensive _ failing to make a plan and then sticking to it. For instance, before they decided to let Lopez go, they should have decided if they were going to tender Miles or not. If they weren’t going to, then they should have stayed in touch with Lopez’s agent, and signed him or they should have been in the market looking for a cheap 2B. Instead, they lacked direction, and now 2B has gone from a weakness to a black hole heading into ‘09, with no plan in sight. Mo’s inexperience has shown through this off-season for me, far more than the Cardinals owners being cheap, which they are.

Thank you,
Brian R.

A: I understand your impatience, but if you’re grading the entire off-season, you have to give the Cardinals credit for signing Lohse to a four-year deal before he got out into the market. I think they improved their shortstop position but I’m not sure about the lefthanded relief. There’s still time for something to happen but I would think the grade so far would be a C. I said, so far. There will be plenty of pitching available yet. As for Miles, the team probably should have tendered him but if the Cardinals didn’t envision him as a quasi-regular player, then I can see why they didn’t do it. By the way, Kennedy hit .270 against lefthanders last year, much improved from the year before.

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Q: Hello Mr. Hummel. This may all be a stretch, but I see that the Rangers and Michael Young seem to be at a bit of an impasse. They want him to move to third, but he would rather be traded. Would the Cards be interested? Have you heard anything about Young being willing to play at second again? What about Greene at second? Obviously we would need to give up a lot, and would also need the Rangers to kick in some salary. What would we be looking at as a package to land him? I think this could be a great move for the Cards. Young would really solidify the top of our order and he still plays pretty good defense. He seems like a TLR guy too. Please tell me I am not dreaming. Thanks for all that you do for us Cardinal fans. I live in SC and follow the Cards religiously. Your work online and on the radio make that possible.

Mark in SC

A: Thanks, Mark. Michael Young would help any team but I think the Cardinals can’t afford to be distracted from adding pitching help now. You might be able to make a deal for Young later on. But, yes he could play either second and short and, in fact, has. I’m not aware that Greene could be a second baseman but there’s no question that the Cardinals will be looking at a second baseman and perhaps shortstop for 2010.

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Q: Don’t you think depending on Kennedy at second base is a gross mistake? He reminds me of the whiny Scott Rolen. From this fan’s perspective, I say if the Cardinals are really serious about giving TLR a team to compete with the high-spending Cubs they would sign Orlando Hudson to play second base. He hits for a good average, has some pop, is terrific in the field. Glaus, Greene, Hudson and Pujols in the infield would be pretty hard for the Cubs to guard. I think we need Hudson more than we do another starting pitcher. What do you think?

John

A: I think you always need starting pitching more than any other position while I’m not discounting the fact that Hudson could help. I think Kennedy actually will have a good year but TLR’s rope with him, I’m sure, is a short one.

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Q: Two or three years ago, the Cardinals decided the farm system needed improvement and committed the resources to that end _ with success _ if certain publications can be believed. I was wondering, as much as I would like to see certain moves made, if patience is the order of the day _ to see how the kids develop with an eye more toward an in-season move as opposed to pulling the trigger now and maybe not getting good value. I also believe we fans should calm down a little what with so many complaining about the farm system over the years. Most seem to want to trade off young players as opposed to waiting for them to develop. As always, thanks for your time.

Bill
Carbondale, Ill.

A: Food for thought. That’s why Colby Rasmus is still here, for instance.