ST. LOUIS -- Kyle McClellan is open to pretty much any role the Cardinals choose to put him in. If he's back as a setup man, that's fine. If he gets a chance to start, that's great. He's still young enough that the main concern is being on the big league roster.

"Based on what [pitching coach Dave Duncan] told me at the end of the year, he said come in ready to start and we'll go from there," McClellan said on Sunday at the annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up. "So it depends, obviously, on [Chris] Carpenter and if there's any other moves.

"But for me, I'm coming in ready to start and ready to compete for a job. I guess that means stretching out in the bullpens, doing a little bit more endurance. And we'll go from there. I'm comfortable with starting, I'm comfortable with relieving. So I think that gives me I guess the benefit of knowing what it takes to do either one. It's not like I can't switch my mindset either way."

One possibility hasn't really crossed McClellan's mind, though: closing. A team that still doesn't have a designated ninth-inning pitcher could conceivably consider McClellan for that job, though it appears unlikely at this point.

"I'll start with the first for now," McClellan said with a laugh, "and we'll go from there."

McClellan is one of the candidates to be the Cardinals' "sixth starter," in case ace Carpenter or another member of the rotation has a setback before the season starts. As he points out, it's much easier to build up for starting, then move to relief work, as compared to the other way around.

But mostly, McClellan's looking forward to a second season in the Majors.

"I don't really care," McClellan said. "I said it all last year when I got the same questions. I loved my role in the bullpen last year, the close games and the situations I was in. To have the opportunity to start would be great. I would take that and run with it. But I'm not going to be affected either way. I don't see the bullpen as a step back. I don't see the rotation as a promotion."