--Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo, who was interviewed for the Seattle managing job but didn't get it, will manage the Puerto Rican squad for a second time in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

--Longtime Cardinals scout Fred McAlister, who was the scouting director from 1980-93, died at age 80 in the Houston area. "He was one of the best judges of amateur talent in the history of the game," said former Cardinals manager/general manager Whitey Herzog, who installed McAlister as his scouting director. McAlister was with the Cardinals' organization from 1945, when he signed out of high school.

--Free agent RHP Jason Isringhausen and the Cardinals still are talking. The reliever is coming off elbow surgery, but his agent, Dan Horwits, said, "What he would like to be is the closer for the Cardinals."

BY THE NUMBERS: 714 -- Major league appearances for LHP Arthur Rhodes, a free agent who was in discussions with the Cardinals.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I have so much respect for (the Cardinals) that I have and will keep them in the loop." -- Agent Barry Meister, talking about negotiations with free agent SS Edgar Renteria, whom the Cardinals and Giants both covet.