Tony DeMarco

Sixteen pitches. That’s all it took for the St. Louis Cardinals to be forced to give up on the long-shot hope that they would get a significant contribution from Mark Mulder.

That’s all it took for Mulder to walk off the mound at Citizens Bank Park in pain on Wednesday night, unable to reach the proper arm slot with his twice-surgically-repaired left shoulder. Now we wonder if Mulder’s season is over, and if worse, we have seen the last of him as an effective starting pitcher.

And we also wonder how soon the Cardinals will try another answer to the major acquisitions of their rivals in the powerful top half of the National League Central. They better hurry up, because as Tony La Russa noted this week, the Brewers and Cubs already were very good teams before they acquired CC Sabathia, Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

What can the Cardinals do? They could do what La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan do better than anybody else – find a stopgap solution for the rotation. After all, you can make a case for the other four Cardinals starters – Braden Looper, Kyle Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer and Joel Pineiro – being reclamation projects of one sort or another.

Brad Thompson could move back into the rotation, a reliever (preferably left-handed) could be acquired or promoted from within – and hopefully that will work until August, when rehabbing aces Adam Wainwright (finger) and Chris Carpenter (elbow) are scheduled to return.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals also could address another pressing need – one that has several quality options still available – and deal for a significant corner-outfield bat to better protect Albert Pujols. Cardinals management has acknowledged that need all season, and it has become more urgent lately.

The problem is, while Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and other quality hitters reportedly are available or will be soon enough, the Cardinals have placed a new-found emphasis on the draft, player development and building from within. So, ironically, they are taking more of a long-term approach than both the Cubs and long-building Brewers, both of whom are in win-now modes.

So how do you answer two apparently top-notch mid-season deals, especially when you’re not willing to give up your top prospect – outfielder Colby Rasmus? The answer is, you probably won’t, so expect the Cardinals to have trouble hanging in the NL Central and wildcard races. They already have dropped to third place after Thursday’s games -- but to dismiss them always is a mistake, too.

As for the deals of the Cubs and Brewers, Jim Hendry answered Doug Melvin as best he could – and didn’t waste any time in doing so, giving the Brewers almost no time to enjoy their one-upmanship.

While Harden may not be Sabathia – last year’s Cy Young Award winner -- he has been close enough when healthy. Can he stay that way down the stretch? There is at least some concern in the fact that Harden’s velocity has been down a bit in his last two outings, both only five innings in length. But taking a calculated gamble that puts Harden with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly in a powerful foursome is the right thing to do.

And don’t forget that the underrated Gaudin is far more than a throw-in. He started the season 3-2 with a 3.75 in six starts before moving to the A’s bullpen, where he was 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA in June. His effective sinkerball and experience will help lighten the workloads of Carlos Marmol, Bob Howry and Michael Wuertz as bridges to closer Kerry Wood. The Cubs were the deeper, better-balanced team before this week’s deals, and remain that way now.

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Melvin stated the obvious by saying ‘we’re going for it’ with the acquisition of Sabathia. But that’s the mandate from an owner who wants to win and a fan base that hasn’t seen a home playoff game in 26 years. The Brewers were fairly certain they won’t be able to retain free-agent-to-be Ben Sheets this winter, so why not take their best shot now – especially when at least a wildcard spot clearly is there for the taking?

If Matt Laporta turns out to be another Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder, the Brewers may feel differently down the road. But there are times when the present takes precedence over the near-future, and that time is now in Milwaukee.