Glaus cleared for baseball activities

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus has been cleared to resume baseball activities, although the best case scenario calls for a return in mid- to late July.

Glaus has been working out in Arizona with a personal trainer after hitting a snag in his rehab from shoulder surgery in January. General manager John Mozeliak said Monday that Glaus will start with a throwing program and progress to hitting and anticipated another update on Glaus' progress in three to four weeks.

Mozeliak said the news won't change the Cardinals' desire to seek offensive help in the meantime. The primary replacements have been rookie Joe Thurston, hitting .240 with one homer and 15 RBIs, and Brian Barden, hitting .239 with four homers and eight RBIs.

"We're glad it's going where it's going, but we still need to assess where our club is, and if there's something else outside that needs to be considered," Mozeliak said. "We're not using the news today like 'Well, we can rest assured we'll be getting him back.' We don't know that."

Mozeliak said the substitutes have played well enough, but not in the context of the lineup the Cardinals had anticipated. Glaus batted .270 with 27 homers and 99 RBIs last year while primarily batting fifth.

"When you think about it in terms of how we planned to build the club this offseason, everything was predicated on Troy Glaus being at third," Mozeliak said.

The left side of the infield has been troublesome for the Cardinals, with shortstop Khalil Greene batting only .200 and on the 15-day disabled list with anxiety-related symptoms. Mozeliak was hopeful Greene would return soon and noted Brendan Ryan was picking up the slack with a .280 average in 75 at-bats.

"I definitely think we're OK there," Mozeliak said. "I'm still optimistic not only will Khalil Greene be back but I also think Brendan Ryan can be a very quality player."