Chris Carpenter addresses the media

Chris Carpenter addressed the media this morning in St. Louis to discuss what has been happening during the offseason.
Oct 21, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter (29) delivers a pitch during the first inning of game six of the 2012 NLCS against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Image Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
“I definitely think that there is a little bit of hope there,” Carpenter said in a press conference. “I mean, with everything that’s come out, it obviously was news that Mo and the organization and myself wasn’t expecting. But it is what it is. I have to figure out what’s going on. I think that after all the Spring Training stuff that’s going on down there — with doctors and physicals and those sort of things — when our physicians get back there, that’s when I’m going to go in and get reevaluated and see what’s going on … and make sure there’s been no change, that there’s nothing else going on in there.

“It’s definitely not working the way it should work, and it’s not fair to me, it’s not fair to my teammates and it’s not fair to the organization to go down there and try to make myself think that I’m going to be OK and I’m going to get through it.”

Carpenter has always been a leader in the clubhouse for the Cardinals. He’s a competitive pitcher and was one of the key guys in the dugout that was rooting for an epic comeback against the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS this past October.

The one word that is not on his mind is retiring. When asked if he thought about retiring, Carpenter’s response was: “I don’t think I’ll ever retire, to be honest with you, I’ll never say that word,” he said. “There might always be hope. Maybe when I’m 48 I can come back and do it some more.”

As others have suggested, it would be wise for the Cardinals to sign Carpenter to a personal services contract after his career, assuming he still has a career.