Improving Isringhausen says he'll be ready to close

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen says there's no need for a backup plan while he recuperates from shoulder surgery.

Isringhausen, who had a torn labrum in his shoulder repaired in late October, played catch for the first time on Monday and felt fine, with another session planned for Wednesday.

He said at the team's annual Winter Warm-Up on Monday that he's two or three weeks ahead of schedule. He believes there's no reason why he won't be finishing games at the start of the season, so a backup plan shouldn't be necessary.

"I should be ready, barring a setback," Isringhausen said. "And they were telling me June. So we don't need one of those."

The Cardinals remain cautious. There's no shortage of possible fill-in candidates early in the season, with left-handers Steve Kline and Jeff Fassero, plus newly-acquired Al Levine all having some experience working the ninth.

"He played catch," general manager Walt Jocketty said. "You've just got to be careful with these guys not to rush their progress."

Isringhausen likely will be used sparingly, if he indeed is ready at the start of the year.

"That's totally up to them," he said. "I don't know what we're going to do."

Hermanson returns with new minor-league deal

Right-hander Dustin Hermanson began his second tour with the Cardinals on Monday after signing a one-year, minor-league contract.

Jocketty said Hermanson, a free agent who played for the Red Sox last year, would come to spring training as a non-roster player and compete for a starting spot. The top three of the rotation is set with Matt Morris, Woody Williams and Brett Tomko, but there are several candidates for the last two positions.

Hermanson was 14-13 with the Cardinals in 2001. He was traded to the Red Sox after that season for a pair of minor leaguers, mostly to clear salary for the Cardinals' signing of free agent first baseman Tino Martinez.

Jocketty said the Cardinals got Hermanson cheap because it's getting close to spring training and there are still dozens of free agents on the market. The general manager also said he'll continue to try to upgrade the bench before the Cardinals report to spring training Feb. 14, although he said there's not much money left to spend with the payroll near $80 million -- about $3 million above budget.

LaRussa expects Vina to look past trade rumors

Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina is upset about hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors. Manager Tony La Russa wants him to get over it.

La Russa met with the team's leadoff hitter recently and tried to assure Vina that the NL Central champions hadn't been shopping him. Vina wasn't convinced.

"Tony said something like that, but that's what they said," Vina said Saturday. "That's all right, you keep going from there."

La Russa said Monday the conversation "wasn't a lot of fun."

"It was pretty heated and he was very upset because his name got in the paper," La Russa said. "I tried to explain to him that's the business of professional baseball, and I tried to tell him that not one time did we call somebody and say we're trying to trade Fernando."

La Russa said the Cardinals were looking for starting pitching when Vina's name was brought up by other teams. Vina had been mentioned in deals for Brett Tomko of the Padres, whom the Cardinals acquired for Luther Hackman, and Russ Ortiz, who was dealt by the Giants to the Braves.

-- From wire reports