Highlights from Day 1 of Winter Warm-up - STLtoday.com

DOWNTOWN -- Come for the access. Stay for the answers.

For the first time in his tenure as general manager with the St. Louis Cardinals, John Mozeliak will take to the main stage to field questions from the fan base. It will be a less intimate Q-and-A than he normal hosts -- off a crowded side room that sometimes forces an encore session with a second room full of fans (and media). This year, Mozeliak will take questions in the main hall from the biggest crowd, with players signing autographs on each side of him.

And he's just the opening act on the main stage. See below.

Here are some of the highlights from Day 1 at Winter Warm-up:

-- Starter Chris Carpenter begins the evening by signing autographs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. St. Louis time. At the same time, John Mabry will be making his first public appearance as the Cardinals assistant hitting coach.

-- Questionable for his scheduled time on Monday, shortstop Rafael Furcal has shown up today to sign autographs. Furcal will go from 10 a.m. to noon St. Louis time. That leaves Yadier Molina as the most prominent Cardinal not to appear at the WWU.

-- Adam Wainwright will sign autographs and field approximately 407 questions about his elbow starting at 1 p.m. Wainwright is in town for two days before returning to Jupiter, Fla., to continue his rehab. He will not be going with the team to the White House on Tuesday because he has a throw scheduled and needs to remain on schedule with his program in order to be ready for opening day. Wainwright will host his annual "Catch a Dream" fundraiser at Pappy's barbeque joint in St. Louis from noon to 2 p.m. in St. Louis on Sunday.

-- Prospects appearing today include Ryan Jackson, Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn, Zack Cox and Jordan Swagerty throughout the day.

-- At 11 a.m. St. Louis time, farm director John Vuch will host a chat with fans about the farm system in the "Presentation Clubhouse." He will take questions from the crowd.

-- At noon, Mozeliak takes the main stage for a Q & A. What is the over/under on how many questions he takes before there is one about re-signing Albert Pujols?

-- After Mozeliak, a panel of writers hops up on the main stage to offer a critique of what Mozeliak just said to the crowd. I kid. KMOX's Tom Ackerman is going to moderate a panel of beat reporters about modern-day coverage, the whirlwind of covering a World Series and whatever else comes up.

-- At 3 p.m. in the presentation clubhouse Brian Finch will show the history of the Cardinals in 10 items from the team's Hall of Fame. Since there is no permanent home yet for the Hall of Fame -- it's waiting on Ballpark Village, wouldn't you know -- this is a good way to get access to Finch's expertise and see some of the items in the collection.

The 16th annual Winter Warm-up continues today through Monday at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch.

Check back here, at Cardinal Beat and StlToday.com throughout the weekend for up-to-the-minute news and notes from WWU XVI.

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