Daily Dose: Cardinals Still Searching for Third Baseman

The Hot Topic of Cardinal baseball recently has been the Cards' search for another bat to put in the lineup.

Whether it be this year or next, GM John Mozeliak has "given up" on seeing the return of Troy Glaus and is seeking an everyday third baseman. The names that have been brought up for the hot corner have been Mark DeRosa, Garrett Atkins, Adrian Beltre, and you might as well throw in Melvin Mora.

That's where we'll start today's Daily Dose:

With DeRosa, Atkins, Beltre, and Mora being main targets, let's take a look at their current numbers: 

DeRosa: .261 BA, 8 HR, 34 RBI
Atkins: .192 BA, 3 HR, 17 RBI
Beltre: .236 BA, 3 HR, 22 RBI
Mora: .269 BA, 2 HR, 15 RBI

Overall, the logical choice would be to acquire Mark DeRosa as the Cleveland Indians look to rebuild as they sit at the bottom of the AL Central.

Garrett Atkins has proved to be inconsistent, and he has seen his stats drop from his career highs in 2006.

Adrian Beltre could be another possibility in a Cards uniform, but only if the Seattle Mariners could eat up some of that $13 million salary, keeping Bill DeWitt's cap space open.

Melvin Mora is a solid veteran, however, he too has seen his numbers drop, as he's nearing the end of his career.

Nick "Stavi" Stavinoha emerged as the hero yet again last night, driving in two runs on a drive to center, that was apparently out of the range of Reds CF Willy Taveras. Those two runs made the score 4-2, and were, potentially, the game-winning runs.

Brad Thompson made his first start this season, and gave up two earned on five hits in five innings of work. Thompson, who had made three starts at Class AAA prior to Tuesday, could potentially take over Joel Pineiro's role if Pineiro is placed on the DL with acute back spasms.

The last time Thompson was a regular starter was 2007, when he went 8-6 with a 4.73 ERA.

Colby Rasmus went 1-for-4 with a double Tuesday night, giving him his 10th extra base hit since May 14. Of his last 12 hits, 10 of them are for extra bases.

Don't let Rasmus' .243 AVG fool you. His .428 SLG presence in the two spot has only benefited the Cardinals and, more importantly, Albert Pujols.

With slugger El Hombre behind Rasmus, the youngster should see more pitches to hit. Also, if Rasmus can continue to get on base, opposing pitchers will be forced to pitch to Pujols, which will benefit the Redbirds.

That's it for today's Daily Dose. The Daily Dose is a new daily column providing five new hot topics on the Cardinals

Blake also posts the same Cardinal articles, news, and much more at the official page. To contact him about radio interviews, questions, etc., please email.