1. In today’s Post, I wrote this column about the Cardinals – like the Yankees – having the kind of infrastructure/philosophy that enables them to thrive despite injuries and other obstacles year after year.

It also probably takes a bit of good fortune. There was a time when the Cardinals were probably willing to go to $200 million to retain Albert Pujols. But he left for $240 million and the Angels, and now looks as if he is breaking down quickly both physically and in performance.

Had Pujols remained, the Cardinals probably could not afford to extend ace Adam Wainwright, as they recently did, or perhaps some other stuff. With Pujols gone, St. Louis took a relatively low-risk gamble with a two-year contract on Carlos Beltran, who has been terrific in a season-plus so far with the Cardinals and has joined fellow corner players Allen Craig, Matt Holliday and Matt Adams to provide strong offense in a post-Pujols world. And in outfielder Oscar Taveras, St. Louis has one of the game’s best position prospects near major league ready.

2. One executive I spoke to had this to say about St. Louis:

“I think it (the Cardinal sustained success) is the consistency of the message of high expectations for everyone in the system from the GM to the players to the clubhouse guys. I know it sounds silly but you do it the ‘Cardinal Way’ or you will not be there for very long.”

Tony La Russa did not think it sounded silly. He echoed the same sentiments. And the GM of another team noted, “the (Colby) Rasmus trade was selling high on a player who did not fit their style/personality.”

Rasmus was just 24 and full of talent, but also always seemingly at odds with La Russa, then St. Louis’ manager. So on July 27, 2011, he was traded to the Blue Jays for Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski and Edwin Jackson. St. Louis was widely criticized for the deal, especially by the stats-driven community for giving up on a young player who played a premium position (center fielder), hit lefty and had power.

But the Cardinal acquisitions helped them make a surge to the playoffs that year and – Dotel and Rzepczynski, in particular – were key contributors to a World Series title.

Rasmus, meanwhile, has not grown much. In his time with the Blue Jays, he is hitting .216 with a .278 on-base percentage and a .390 slugging percentage. Like much of the Toronto team now, he is a talented player not fulfilling that talent and/or a mismatched piece in a puzzle.

3. La Russa is one of my favorite people in the game to interview. In part because the best interviews are generally the ones that just become conversations and conversations where you – as the reporter – feel your are being nourished with new knowledge. And pretty much every time I have spoken with La Russa in the last 20-plus years, I left the conversation feeling better informed or able to think about issues in different ways. I know in some realms he is looked at as arrogant or a bully, but for some reason, he has always been kind with his time and insights with me, and I feel better educated about baseball because of it.

Thus, I will end 3UP today with just some random snippets from a 30-minute interview/conversation I had with La Russa yesterday:

–“You know what beats you know is bull(bleep). It seeps into team chemistry and the way you play on the field. I give Buck Showalter a lot of credit for the Yankees for what he did when he took over (as manager) there. He got the bull(bleep) factor put away. His thing was just compete as a baseball player. Let’s play the game, win the right way, lose the right way. Those franchises that win there is a minimum of bull(bleep) within the club. Nobody is immune and there is more ways for bull(bleep) to seep in than ever before. But within the good clubs, there are mentors that monitor that it doesn’t get out of control.”

–“The most underrated part of this thing is chemistry – that trust that exists within a ballclub, a strength and willingness to deal with whatever is thrown at you through the long season. Roland Hemond was a real mentor of mine. He told me if your team has that good feeling, it is like trading for a superstar.”

– “The most important talent you can have is frame of mind. If your frame of mind is great, it raises your performance. Winning is a skill and you can cultivate winning.”