P-D: Is there still a question about whether this team will have a "buy,"
"sell" or "hold" mentality as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches?

BDJ: I'm not sure the "buyers-vs.-sellers" is quite what it was a few years
ago. Now there are a lot of teams that see themselves in contention for the
wild card. A lot of the divisions are very competitive, so you don't see too
many deals where teams are unloading good players at the deadline or moving
players just to dump salary. The free-agent market the last several years has
been very thin. I think that more and more you see teams tying up their top
young players to extensions. That serves to dilute the market and in many cases
diminish movement around the deadline. But there's always opportunity to
improve through the trade process. Some years it's a question of degree.

P-D: You've said consistently this year that the club retained financial
flexibility despite a payroll around $100 million. Is that still true?

BDJ: We've got room to add payroll if it would be something to improve our
club. But, again, you don't see teams moving payroll just for the sake of
moving payroll.

P-D: If an opportunity arose that would allow you to trade for a player or
players that would add $1.5 million-$2 million in pro-rated payroll, could you
digest it?

BDJ: Something like that would be very achievable.

P-D: Do you still allow yourself to act independently of your rivals after the
Milwaukee Brewers acquired CC Sabathia and the Chicago Cubs traded for Rich
Harden?

BDJ: We can't worry too much about what other clubs do. We have to be as good a
team as we can possibly be, particularly when we're in the playoff hunt. I know
Mo' is doing what he is doing to improve the club, trying to get out there and
before the deadline to improve the club without sacrificing more talent than we
receive in return. I know he's on the case. What we don't want to do is
something we regret later. Clubs in the past have panicked and given up a lot
and gotten back a little. We don't want to be in that position.
It sounds like the Cardinals are willing to increase their payroll if needed for a trade. This is a different stance than they have taken the past several years. They usually state that the payroll won't go over $100Mil. I don't know what kind of a trade could be made, but this is good news for free agency. Isringhausen's contract will come off the books after the season to give even more flexability with the payroll.

The big free agency aquisition last year was Kyle Lohse. He has turned out to be a huge aquisition, but at the time, he was only signed because the Cardinals went to Spring Training without enough starters to compete. Hopefully the Cardinals will look for another big starter or a few good relievers.