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Still digesting it, too. My first impulse, though, is "guarded excitement".

Basically, I like the deal but do worry about giving a 5-year deal to virtually any pitcher. But as mentioned numerous times in this thread, if any pitcher deserves it, it's Carpenter.

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

It tells fans and other players that the organization is serious about continuing to win in the near future. There has to be some value in that. There appears to have been in Rolen's case.

Sure he could get injured this year. He could also get injured the next year, assuming we waited for this season to be over before signing him. The market could settle, it could continue moving skyward, especially if the Yankees continue to overpay for crap.

For all we know, Carpenter was asking to do something now, and had a number and years in mind. Maybe they went back and forth on it, and arrived at this number. He's a great guy by most accounts, and a Cy Young winner.

In this case, I don't mind picking safe over sorry.

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Won't he be 38 at the end of his contract?

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Yeah, but we already had him locked up for 2 years. Millwood was a FA when he signed his contract. A lot can happen to a pitcher in 2 years - good or bad.

ToughGuy_BlueShirt wrote:

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Won't he be 38 at the end of his contract?

He'll be 36.

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Yeah but it's a much different scenario, Carpenter wasn't a FA, he still had 2 years/15 million left on his current deal. Basically they tacked on 50 million for 3 years after that, which will be a little over 16 million per year once his current contract is over. I don't think it's a bad contract, but I also don't think the Cardinals are getting some huge bargain for the amount of risk they are taking on at the moment.

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Yeah, but we already had him locked up for 2 years. Millwood was a FA when he signed his contract. A lot can happen to a pitcher in 2 years - good or bad.

It's better to have him locked up then not to. That's how I feel about it. Carpenter is worth more then 13 million a season. Zito will make more then him, and Zito isn't even on the same planet as Chris pitching wise.

whyhellothere wrote:

Magneto wrote:

Michael wrote:

Magneto wrote:How someone can dislike this is completely mind boggling. Wow.

Great for Carpenter and the Cards.

I'm not sure if I like or dislike the extension, to be honest I'm still digesting it. I guess it all depends on the savings they received by getting it done a year earlier. It's certainly interesting.

If Chris Carpenter was on the market, do you realize how much he'd be getting in? This is a huge bargain. 5 years might be the only draw back, and even then, he'll just be 36 at the end of the contract, and even if he had a bad last year, him being good for the next 4 alone is worth it. Unless Carpenter doesn't pitch the last 3 years of the contract, I don't see how this is a bad deal at all. He's the best pitcher in the NL.

I mean Kevin Millwood signed for 6/60 for god's sake. LOL.

Yeah but it's a much different scenario, Carpenter wasn't a FA, he still had 2 years/15 million left on his current deal. Basically they tacked on 50 million for 3 years after that, which will be a little over 16 million per year once his current contract is over. I don't think it's a bad contract, but I also don't think the Cardinals are getting some huge bargain for the amount of risk they are taking on at the moment.

In a market were Lilly and Suppan will make close to 10 a year, 16 might not be a bargain per se, but it's still a very good contract.

Magneto wrote:It's better to have him locked up then not to. That's how I feel about it. Carpenter is worth more then 13 million a season. Zito will make more then him, and Zito isn't even on the same planet as Chris pitching wise.

I agree, he's better than Zito. But you are comparing a FA contract to an extension for a player who had 2 years left on his deal. I don't hate this deal but I wouldn't call it a no brainier. I'm just curious how much more the contract would have cost if they had waited a year. Like I said, it's a very interesting extension.