Kevin: What are the Blues doing to address the defense besides waiting for the Erics to come back? Who are the best puck moving FA defensemen that would come cheaply? Mathieu Schneider comes to mind.

Jeremy Rutherford: Schneider is an option (to my knowledge, he hasn't signed anywhere yet). He's a guy who could help on the power play and be a mentor to the Blues' young d-men. But I believe they could get by without him. Johnson will run the point on the power play, and Carlo Colaiacovo showed last year that he can run the other point. If Pietrangelo plays and develops, he would be your other puck-moving d-man. To me, a 40-year Schneider takes away growth time from Pietrangelo.

bloop91: JR.
What are our real chances of getting Schneider and how is Brewer coming along.

Thanks for your tme

Jeremy Rutherford:
There's always a chance with Schneider, especially if he's looking for a one-year deal. That's probably all the Blues are interested in.

I spoke with Brewer about three weeks ago and he was excited to get his rehab started. A few days ago, JD told me that everything was fine with Brewer. JD hadn't heard of any setbacks.

hot ice: With the Blackhawks signing Hossa, how will the Blues keep pace if they don't sign an additional goal scorer?

Jeremy Rutherford:
Well, the Blues are going to have to keep pace with what they have. There aren't many players available who can do what Hossa does - maybe Dan Heatley, but the Blues aren't interested. The Blues are crossing their fingers that Kariya comes back strong . . . McDonald, Boyes and Backes keep putting up numbers . . . and the kids (Berglund, Oshie, Perron) can start to produce more offensively.

TeeBoxHog: Finally a win without Albert having the game winning RBI! When was the last time the Cards won a game and AP had no RBI?

Did anyone else notice AP's disgusted look when Duncan and Thurston struck out with runners in scoring position (again). It's hard to rank Duncan, Thurston and Ankiel on who is the worst player and most deserving of a ticket to Memphis. Thurston's baserunning is worse than Duncan's fielding so I guess he'd get my vote.

Jeremy Rutherford: Who cares? It's not hockey.

rich4mde: JR,
With Tampa signing Matt Walker to 4 years 6.8 million do you think that sets a bar for Polak for offers. IMO I think Polak is a better player than Walker and he played on the first line D pairing last year, which if I'm not mistaken was his rookie year! What do you think Polak's price range is going to be!

Jeremy Rutherford: I like Matt Walker, but I couldn't believe that signing . . . $1.7 million per. I thought Walker was a very good player for Chicago last season. But that seems a little high. And yes, that does drive up the prices. I don't think Polak will get $2 million, but you can bet that Polak was smiling when he saw the Walker contract.