"One and done." Those are three words you don't want to use around Mark DeRosa, three words that have ended his past three seasons — 2007 and 2008 with the Chicago Cubs, 2009 with the Cardinals. Each time his excitement over making it to postseason play lasted only one round before it was done.

"Maybe it's me," DeRosa said, suggesting he might be a jinx. "It better not be because I'm not planning on retiring."

DeRosa added that each early dismissal has been more demoralizing than the last. "They're all stunning," he said. "You stand out on the field and you realize how hard you got to work and how many things have to go right for you to get back to this position again. Those are the things I think about.

"You've got to go through the offseason and back to spring training and hope everyone stays healthy, and you find guys to step up when guys go down, just to put yourself in position to win a title. So when it's taken away from you in three games, it's tough to swallow."

DeRosa thought this October would be different, thought the St. Louis team he joined in late June had all the markings of a World Series contender. But that promise was extinguished quickly and unceremoniously at Busch Stadium on Saturday night. Here today, gone tomorrow in a divisional series sweep for the Los Angles Dodgers.

"It's never easy," said DeRosa, who with five hits and a run batted in in 13 at-bats was one of the few productive Cardinals in the abbreviated playoff. "Every team is going to be disappointed except the one that dogpiles to the title.

"I just felt like if we could have won (Saturday night), put a little pressure on them, get some momentum, get (Chris Carpenter) back on the mound ... you have visions of what's going to happen."

When it was suggested there were hints of problems to come, including a late September virus of sub-.500 play that never worked its way out of the Cardinals' system, DeRosa wasn't buying.

"I don't ever put stock in how you play after you clinch," DeRosa said. "I know a manager has to motivate his team as best he can. But I think every team that clinched went into a little swoon there, so I don't necessarily put it on that."

The Cardinals roster figures to look different next spring. Several of the current names on the roster, including DeRosa, have the opportunity to peddle their wares and test the open market. Whether any of the key midseason additions — DeRosa, Matt Holliday, Julio Lugo or John Smoltz — returns remains to be seen.

DeRosa, who turns 35 in February, will have surgery to repair his injured wrist during the winter, a problem he played with but a problem that surely hampered him in the waning weeks. He managed 10 home runs in 237 at-bats for the Cardinals, but only three homers over the last two months. His .193 batting average in September dragged his average down to .228 in 68 games with the Cardinals.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has expressed an interest in bringing DeRosa back, but a guy who has worn five different uniforms in his career knows how things work.

"This is a talented group," DeRosa said. "But I said the same thing last year (in Chicago), that's the way the game works. The sad part is there are going to be guys on this team that are not back."

He added: "Obviously, I'd love to come back here. It's a great city, great fans, great place to play. ... I'm always going to go where the pitching is, and there's good pitching here."

For Smoltz, the decision is two-fold. He demonstrated he could still be effective during his six weeks with the Cardinals after struggling to find his post-surgery form in Boston. St. Louis was a comfortable fit for the future Hall of Famer, and there may be a need.

At the same time, Smoltz turns 43 next May. He will have to decide if he wants to continue to play before he addresses where to play.

"You know, it's hard," Smoltz said. "In my gut and my mind, I want to do it. I want to pitch again next year. But I have to make sure I'm in position to do it again. ... It's going to be an interesting offseason for me, one in which I'll take a long, hard look and see if I still have the desire to work out, that's what it's going to come down to."