Despite a refusal to comment by Jocketty, the Post-Dispatch has a source that says Carpenter is close to signing a 3-yr extension.

Financial parameters of the contract are close to set, according to a source, with the contract heavily laden with appearance incentives. Though terms were not provided, they are classified as below market value for a pitcher who last season amassed a 15-5 record and 3.46 earned-run average.

The guaranteed part of the deal is believed less than the $21 million to $23 million packages awarded free agents Kris Benson, Jaret Wright and Eric Milton last winter.

So it sounds like he'd be gauranteed something like $6.5-7.5 million a year, but with incentives, the value could go up to somewhere around $10mil/yr. I'd say that's a good deal for the Cards. If Carp can perform like he did last year, that's ace material, and worth atleast $10mil/yr on the open market these days, if not more. And although he's had injury troubles in the past, I don't think he's a significant risk at this point. The flukiness of his bicep injury last year does give me pause, but I'm sure the Cards have investigated it and are fairly confident it won't recur.

The article also points out that if Walt were to sign Carp long term, it would give us control of 4/5 of our current rotation going into '06. Mulder and Suppan both have options that are likely to be picked up barring injury or meltdown, and Marquis won't be eligible for free agency until '07 if I understand my rules correctly (it's very possible I don't - they're complex rules). That just leaves Morris, who is somewhat of a question mark right now. He's playing on an incentive based contract, so he's out to prove he can return to his '01 form. If he does it, I doubt the Cards can afford to keep him, and I don't see him taking less money to stay either. Plus, some might say that Wainright and/or Anthony Reyes will be ready to step into the big league rotation by next year. So all in all, I'd say if this story pans out, it's very good news for the Cards. We may very well lose Walker at the end of the season, but if we can bring back 4 of 5 starters in the rotation, plus our closer, and our "MV3" of Albert, Scotty, and Jimmy, that alone will give us a solid core yet again in '06. And to be able to say that this early is big. That means Jocketty can spend more time working on minor trades to tweak the roster or compensate for injuries, and less time worrying about re-signing impending free agents in the offseason.