Ryan: I know Duncan is recovering from offseason surgery, but wow - his numbers at the plate this spring are non-existent! A ton of K's too. Should Cardinal Nation be concerned with yet another player's production or lack thereof?

Joe Strauss: Not yet. Duncan overdid his cage work early on and suffered from back spasms before being shut down for a week. Before suffering his sports hernia last season, Duncan showed noticeable development as a hitter. He's got significant up-side as a production plant. It will be interesting to watch how TLR apportions time to his outfielder this season, though.

Dave: Dear Chatmeister, Your Eminence, Guru of the Diamond,

Thank you for your continued enlightenment.

In December you offered a first draft of the Cardinal lineup. How close would this come to the April lineup you believe the Cardinals will field next month?

Schumaker/Barton, cf (L-R platoon)
Ankiel, rf
Pujols, 1b
Duncan, lf
Glaus, 3b
Molina, c
Kennedy, 2b
Pitcher
Izturis/Ryan, ss (L-R platoon)

Bench: LaRue, Gonzalez, Miles

Joe Strauss: We may have a winner.

Matthew House: Do you think that Jim Hayes lax attitude around the clubhouse carries over to the players performance on the field? It seems that his pee pee talk has had a direct negative effect on players like Izturis and Joel Piniero.

Joe Strauss: Forgive Hayes. Since Scott Rolen left town he's been in search of someone to hug. As for his pee-pee talk, it brings us all down. He's so much better than that. (Yet the Cat is still perversely entertaining.)

Mike in Alabama: Dear Mr. Mozeliak:

The headline this morning states that the Cards are now going to try and sign a free agent pitcher. Fine, but why didn't anyone realize this three months ago when more options were available? Everyone knew coming into this season that the entire staff (including healthy pitchers) had question marks, so why a few weeks before the season starts is the brass finally admitting that?

Please just sign Jeff Weaver already!

Mike in Alabama

Joe Strauss: Mike, you have just been issued the on-line Death Penalty by JSL!!! Misdirecting mail intended for chat rivals is Verboten. We don't do leftovers here. The humanity!!!

Martin Osterman: JSL!!!! A great way to pass the time in Indiana, surrounded by Cubs and Reds fans - and hope that the Cards do better than those aforementioned two.

I find it very interesting that management is having to backtrack on the free agent market for some help, and even moreso hearing Mo say that the FA market had not developed and that only a small handful of pitchers had signed multi-year deals. So, humor us for a minute - is management serious at all about taking a second look at the FA market? Are there any names, besides Lohse, that are likely to wear cardinal red by the time the season starts or slightly into the season?

Thank you, O Great ChatMeister, for answering our questions, providing us insights into the great mysteries of the universe, and helping us pass the time while at work!

Joe Strauss: Lohse is the only FA name in play, according to my information.