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As the St. Louis Cardinals reflect on the unfinished business of 2012, they have to feel proud and disappointed at the same time.  Being one win from the World Series was not something Cardinals fans thought would have been possible in mid-August.

However, the Cardinals showed their teeth like a back-alley Rottweiler and made their push into the playoffs.  Now as 2013 is upon us, the Cardinals are poised to improve on their 88-74 record from last season.

The Cardinals have a lot going for them.  Keith Law of ESPN ranked their farm system as the best in baseball. They are rich with talent and have flexibility when it comes to settling on a rotation with all the young arms in the cupboard.

It is my opinion that the Cardinals opening day rotation will be as follows:

1. Wainwright
2. Garcia
3. Westbrook
4. Lynn
5. Miller

That leaves the bullpen in a strong position.  Joe Kelly and Trevor Rosenthal are being given an opportunity to nail down the fifth starter spot, but they will most likely end up in the bullpen.  The bullpen was a sore spot last season. But with the addition of Kelly and Rosenthal to the bullpen and adding them to Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte, the bullpen should be a strength this year.  

The 2013 version of the Cardinals offense should also be a bright spot.  It has been suggested by Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Disptach that the Cardinals also boast baseball’s best offense coming into 2013.  The Cardinals return five hitters—Beltran, Freese, Holliday, Craig, and Molina—who all hit 20 or more home runs last season.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Beltran, Holliday and Craig will all crush 30 or more home runs this season.  Knocking at the door and chomping for an opportunity to bring some offense to St. Louis is phenom Oscar Tavares.  

Tavares has impressed so far in spring training.  He is hitting .292 with six RBIs in seven games.  He crushed a grand slam last week against the Miami Marlins and has shown he deserves a longer look. Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch makes the case for Taveras to make the opening day roster.

The only real issue hanging out there for the Cardinals is the middle infield.  It has been reported that Rafael Furcal is not progressing with his elbow injury.  Playoff hero from last season, Pete Kozma, may be the everyday guy at shortstop to start the season.

Second base is wide open as well. Prospect Kolten Wong is getting a long look, but so far hasn’t hit well in spring training.

Thus far Wong is batting .200 in his 15 spring training at-bats.  Hopefully he’ll turn it around, otherwise he’ll be at AAA Memphis to start the season.  At this point, either Daniel Descalso or Matt Carpenter will find their way into the lineup starting at second before it’s all said and done.

So to sum it all up, once the middle infield is solidified, the Cardinals don’t really have any holes. Which leads me back to the article heading.  What will the Cardinals record be this season?

With a much better than average starting rotation, a lineup that should produce a ton of runs and a bullpen that can hold a lead, the Cardinals should finish 96-66 and win the NL Central.

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The St. Louis Cardinals came into spring training this week with a number of questions about their starting rotation.

Who will win the fifth starter spot? Who will replace the injured Chris Carpenter?

Then a new guy showed up at camp—a skinny fellow with a small goatee. Well, he wasn’t a new guy, but he may as well be.

When Lance Lynn showed up almost 40 pounds lighter than when he left St. Louis in October, he probably didn’t know that his new, leaner physique would be the first big story of the spring.

Lynn, who filled in for Carpenter, couldn’t have asked for a better 2012. His 18-win season over 29 starts earned him his first All-Star berth. He also managed to rack up 180 strikeouts—not bad for a young man in his first year as a starter.

Late in the season, a few hiccups jeopardized his position and landed him a brief bullpen stint. He came back strong, but struggled again in the postseason.

Lynn appears to have returned ready to make a statement that last year was not a fluke.

What will this new physique mean for his mechanics?

Until he takes the mound, we won’t know the full effect on his velocity. While velocity can take a hit with weight loss, the increased endurance, with any luck, will more than make up for it.

He’s an intelligent pitcher, and having a catcher like Yadier Molina to help keep him on the right track has been invaluable.

Lynn will have the entire spring to show why he deserves to be a starter again in 2013, and I have little doubt that’s where he will wind up when all is said and done.

Something that has always intrigued me about Lynn is how he gets dialed in. The key to getting past Lynn is to strike early. Through his first 15 pitches, batters hit .333 against him, but the numbers fall off dramatically from there.

Pitches 16-30: .231
Pitches 31-45: .255
Pitches 46-60: .214
Pitches 61-75: .133

Once Lynn settles in, he can dominate. Late in the 2012 season, as he grew heavier, those numbers slipped a bit.

The hope is that he will see a serious increase in stamina and endurance that will bring him back to that form that helped carry the Cardinals through the majority of the year.

He showed a ton of promise in 2012, with signs that he has what it takes to be a long-term big league starter.

Lynn’s four-seam fastball, his main pitch, clocks in the mid- to upper 90s. He also throws a nasty changeup in the upper 70s to lower 80s, which gives him a fantastic ability to keep hitters on their toes.

Throughout the 2011 World Series, then-manager Tony La Russa relied heavily on Lynn as a powerful bullpen arm. At 23, Lynn was lights-out in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the World Series.

That’s about as tough as tests can get.

Starting now he has another test—showing the management that what they got from him in 2012 was not a fluke. He filled in for Carpenter admirably once before; now he has the opportunity to own that slot in the rotation.

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Hopes are high for young St. Louis Cardinals going into spring training, but how many of them will make the big step to the major league team?

Bubble players throughout MLB have prepped all winter in an effort to be ready to put on a good showing when they arrive at spring training.

A bubble player is a player who is on the verge of either making the team or getting cut. They can be young or old, but most often people think of young players.

While everyone on this list is young, there is at least one on the list whose job could be in jeopardy.

Following are six players who have a good shot at making the squad out of spring training.

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With the news coming down today that Chris Carpenter will likely miss the entire 2013 season, the Cardinals rotation suffered a major setback.

It was expected that Carpenter would return to form in 2013 and be a co-anchor with Adam Wainwright. This latest setback will most likely end Carpenter’s career. 

With Carpenter being lost, the Cardinals are going to have to replace an expected 15-18 wins in the rotation.  It is a good thing the current Cardinal roster is filled with the talent to possibly fill those shoes.

In addition to quality starting-pitching talent lining the roster, the Cardinals could also look to free agency to fill the void left by Carpenter.

One thing is certain, John Mozeliak is already evaluating all his options—with his track record of success, chances are he’ll makes the right call.

The Cardinals organization, the fans and baseball in general will miss Chris Carpenter.  When healthy, Chris Carpenter’s stuff is as good as anyone in the majors.  But it’s not looking good that he’ll make it back to the mound again.

If this was it for Carpenter, it was a good ride.  Three All-Star appearances, a Cy Young and playoff dominance, including his Game 5 gem in the 2011 NLDS, will shape his legacy.

All that said, here are three reasons things will be just fine without Chris Carpenter in the rotation.

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Today the St. Louis Cardinals consider themselves in the same place they were at the beginning of 2012—not expecting ace pitcher Chris Carpenter to throw a pitch.

In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, general manager John Mozeliak, accompanied by manager Mike Matheny, made the announcement. 

Mozeliak said Chris Carpenter has experienced renewed discomfort in regard to the condition that cost him most of 2012.

Carpenter contacted the Cardinals on Friday of last week and informed the team that after numerous attempts at throwing bullpen sessions. He was experiencing the same issues with some additional quirks.

Mozeliak reported Carpenter has experienced bruising and redness in his shoulder and hand after throwing.

Carpenter was diagnosed in 2012 with thoracic outlet syndrome. He underwent mid-season and made a rather improbable comeback in time to pitch in the playoffs.

As recently as the Winter Warm-up, Carpenter told reporters that he felt optimistic and had started prepping early.

Mozeliak said Carpenter was clearly not happy about having to make the move, but he felt there was no choice.

“He was definitely teary eyed,” he said. “[Carpenter] felt like to some degree he was letting us down.”

Despite that, Mozeliak told reporters that Carpenter believed he needed to be sure that whatever is going on is not going to prevent him from having “a normal after-career life.”

When asked to characterize Chris Carpenter, Mozeliak used one word: passion.

“He’s one of the most competitive players I’ve ever been around,” he said. “[Carpenter] truly willed himself to want to win. I’ll always admire that about him.”

Matheny touted his “intimidating presence” and added that Carpenter really has “a lot coming crashing down on him at one time.”

While the immediate reaction was disappointment from Mozeliak and Matheny, they made it clear that the team is still ready to compete in the spring.

“After you get over the pity party of not having someone, you have to move on,” Mozeliak told reporters.

Mozeliak said that while many questioned the Cardinals’ lack of big off-season moves, he felt it was the best route to take.

Having not traded off pitching prospects for an additional shortstop gives the Cardinals a better crop of pitchers help fill the Carpenter void.

“There’s going to be some opportunities for some younger pitchers to contribute,” Mozeliak said, noting that there would be lots of work to do once they arrive in Jupiter, Fla. for Spring Training.

Matheny said he expects to see Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly, Jr. and Trevor Rosenthal all gunning for the new spot in the rotation.

When asked about whether departing free agent Kyle Lohse was an option, he said he didn’t want to discuss individual free agent options.

Despite missing nearly five years due to injury, he’s made a lasting impression on the Cardinals organization. Carpenter has compiled 144 career wins and is the only Cardinal aside from Bob Gibson to win a Cy Young Award.

His 1085 career strikeouts are only 10 behind Dizzy Dean who holds the second spot among Cardinals.

He is fifth on the Cardinals all-time WHIP list with a 1.12 ahead of names like Dean and Gibson.  

He is most well-known for his bulldog mentality on the field and for his 2011 postseason run that carried the Cardinals all the way through the World Series.

Mozeliak said Carpenter, who was not at the press conference, wanted to “get all of his ducks in a row” before speaking to the media.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter‘s 2013 season is likely already over, but one has to wonder whether we’ve seen the last of him on a Major League mound after his latest shoulder-related setback.

Citing a recurrence of shoulder numbness, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak announced on Tuesday that Carpenter was “very unlikely” to pitch for the team in 2013, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

It was a similar shoulder injury that was caused by rare a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome in 2012, which limited Carpenter to just three regular season starts. While no definitive statements were made on the 37-year-old’s career outlook, Mozeliak did not seem too optimistic.

When asked whether he expected to see Carpenter pitch again, Mozeliak responded in the negative.

“It’s very unlikely. So, no,” said Mozeliak (per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Carpenter was not made available for Tuesday’s press conference, so it’s hard to ascertain what his mindset currently is. But perhaps the most interesting nugget of information from the Post-Dispatch’s story on Carpenter’s injury did not actually come on Tuesday. It came in January at the Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up.

Asked about his recovery, Carpenter indicated that he would retire if he suffered another setback.

“If I have more health issues I’m not going to continue to try to battle through,” said Carpenter.

While it’s oftentimes a sticky road to tell someone what to do with their career, Carpenter should at the very least consider heeding his own words and retiring after the 2013 season. Though some would simply say he should hang up the cleats now, there are 12.5 million reasons why Carpenter should stick around for 2013. 

If Carpenter retires, he would forfeit his $12.5 million salary, per Rosenthal. So for him to stick around and play the mentor role for 2013 seems more than a little financially prudent, especially considering the Cardinals can use insurance to pay part of his salary.

But it’s hard to see Carpenter finding a good reason to continue his playing days. Carpenter’s shoulder/neck problems are so serious that Mozeliak said the right-hander “wants to make sure whatever is going on his neck, arm is not going to preclude him from a normal life,” according to USA Today. 

It’s exactly the type of setback many feared when Carpenter returned earlier than expected for the Cardinals’ postseason run in 2012. Expected to miss the entire 2012 season, Carpenter returned to St. Louis’ rotation on Sept. 21, throwing five solid innings in a loss to the Chicago Cubs.

He would go on to make three total regular-season starts and took the mound three more times in the postseason, where he gave up 10 runs (four earned) in 13.2 innings. While it was certainly a touching sight to see Carpenter battling for his teammates, it was pretty clear he was struggling to find his former greatness. 

Carpenter’s injuries are obviously nothing resembling a fluke. If he indeed sits out the entire 2013 season, it will be the fourth time in the past seven years that Carpenter has made fewer than five starts in a campaign. He’s also had chronic shoulder ailments dating back more than a decade, which was one of the reasons he wound up with the Cardinals in the first place.

Other than simply “loving the game,” there aren’t many reasons for Carpenter to return baseball-wise. Despite having a short run of brilliance, Carpenter is not a Hall of Famer. Not even close. He was a fantastic pitcher who shined brightest whenever the Cardinals needed him, but a 146-97 career record with a 3.76 ERA would barely get him into the “Hall of Very Good.”

More than any other sport, baseball celebrates longevity. Carpenter doesn’t quite have it on a Cooperstown level.

It’s not like Carpenter would be coming back to a guaranteed World Series contender, either. At 20-to-1 odds (per Bovada), St. Louis is currently considered the 12th-best team in Major League Baseball by the oddsmakers. With the Cardinals not exactly being the most splurge-prone team in baseball, it’s hard to see them being all that much higher up the list come 2014.

Though it’s theoretically possible that Carpenter would return with another franchise, that is probably the unlikeliest scenario of all. He’s been an exemplary member of the Cardinals organization and a pillar in the St. Louis community too long to walk away now. If Carpenter was going to leave, he would have already done it. 

There just comes a time where you have to walk away. Carpenter is obviously concerned about his long-term health, and an extra year of baseball isn’t worth jeopardizing his quality of life for the next few decades.

It’s unfortunate, but retirement is the only way Carpenter can guarantee any further damage being done. Just wait until 2014 to officially retire. You gotta get that money first.  

Follow @tylerconway22

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On April 27, Chris Carpenter will turn 38 years old. His major league career appears to be on its final legs, but on Tuesday Cardinal fans found out that the retirement may come sooner rather than later.

It was reported by Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak on Tuesday that Carpenter is still feeling discomfort in his arm and it is “very unlikely he will pitch in 2013.”

Now the question is: Will we ever see Carpenter pitch again?

Carpenter only started three games at the end of last season for the Cardinals. In those games, he went 0-2 with a 3.71 ERA and had 12 strikeouts. He missed the majority of the season because of nerve damage in his arm.

Carpenter has had a history of arm problems in the past as well. He had to have Tommy John surgery after hurting his arm on opening day in 2007. He missed all the rest of the 2007 season recovering from that surgery. He tried to make a return in 2008, but could only start three games and pitch 15.1 innings that season.

Carpenter made a full return in 2009. He pitched 192.2 innings and went 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA and helped lead St. Louis to the playoffs. In 2010, he pitched 235 innings, going 16-9 with a 3.22 ERA. Then, in 2011, Carpenter threw 237.1 innings for the Redbirds, recorded a 3.45 ERA and had a record of 11-9.

The numbers were not as good in 2011 for Carpenter, but he came up with some big starts in the postseason, including a complete game shutout against the Phillies in Game 5 of the NLDS and a Game 7 win against the Rangers to help clinch the World Series.

Chris Carpenter has had an amazing career with the St. Louis Cardinals, culminating in a 2005 National League Cy Young Award and two World Series championships.

Hopefully, Carpenter can make a return to the game one day, but the future does not look bright. If this is the end for Carp, it has been an outstanding 14 year career.

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The Cardinals announced on Tuesday afternoon that Chris Carpenter would miss the 2013 season after a recurrence of shoulder problems. Carpenter missed the bulk of 2012 with a shoulder issue that was said to be corrected by surgery. The evidence and Carpenter’s injury history suggests that he will miss all of 2013 and could be done, period.

Carpenter had surgery to repair thoracic outlet syndrome in July, resulting in the removal of a rib to open up space in the area. This surgery is not uncommon for pitchers or other people with overhead, repetitive motions. (The occupation that most often has this issue? Carpenters, ironically, due to the hammering they do.) 

No other pitchers that have had this type of surgery have had significant setbacks of this type. That said, no other pitcher who has had this surgery has the long list of ailments that Carpenter has dealt with throughout his career. The best known comparables are David Cone and Kenny Rogers. 

Carpenter has always had injury issues, especially with his pitching shoulder, going back to his Blue Jay tenure. He came to the Cardinals after the Jays did not believe he would return to effectiveness after a rotator cuff and labrum problem.

The Cardinals rehabbed Carpenter through the 2003 season and were rewarded when he helped them get to the 2004 World Series with an excellent campaign. Carpenter did miss the World Series, losing the last month of the season and the playoffs due to a nerve injury in his shoulder.

Carpenter came back with a strong 2005 campaign, winning the Cy Young award. More problems arose in 2007 when he needed two elbow surgeries, including Tommy John reconstruction. Carpenter missed almost all of the 2008 season while rehabbing. 

Carpenter returned well in 2009, nearly winning the Cy Young Award. It should be noted that I was one of two voters that left Carpenter off his Cy Young ballot that season, though I had his fellow Cardinal Adam Wainwright as my No. 1 ahead of winner Tim Lincecum. My reasoning for picking Wainwright, Lincecum and Dan Haren over Carpenter was in large part based on Carpenter having missed a month with an oblique strain and the lost value of that time. 

Carpenter’s contract with the Cardinals expires after the 2013 season. GM John Mozeliak said at the press conference that he doesn’t believe that Carpenter will pitch for the Cardinals again. The extension, signed in 2011, was for two years and $21 million, but Carpenter was only able to pitch 17 innings at the end of last season. 

Mozeliak stated that the door was open for Carpenter to return this season if he is physically able, putting the team in a similar position to last year. In the meantime, the Cardinals will go young with their pitching. They will need Lance Lynn to give a full season of work after an excellent rookie campaign that saw him hit the wall in the second half.

They will also need top prospect Shelby Miller to step up, giving the team the SP2 that they now lack, while also not extending his young arm too far past the 150-inning mark he got to last season at two levels.

All quotes in this piece were obtained first-hand unless otherwise noted.

Will Carroll has been writing about sports injuries for 12 years. His work has appeared at SI.com, ESPN.com and MLB.com.

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The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Tuesday that Chris Carpenter “can’t continue to throw” and will likely miss the entire 2013 season, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.

General manager John Mozeliak says that Carpenter will seek medical attention regarding the discomfort he feels when throwing.

There have been no statements regarding a possible retirement for Carpenter, though the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a story Tuesday morning regarding the possibility. If he were to retire, he would have to forfeit the $12.5 million salary he’s earned in 2013.

Carpenter made just three regular season starts (and three postseason starts) in 2012 after battling shoulder injuries all season long.

When healthy, Carpenter has been amongst the best pitchers in baseball. That’s been the problem over the entirety of his major league career, though, as staying healthy hasn’t been so easy for the 37-year-old.

Just yesterday, we saw Brandon Webb, another former Cy Young winner, hang up his cleats due to lingering arms issues.

There’s a good possibility that Carpenter could call it quits as well, though he could still spend the entire season on the disabled list and collect the money he’s still owed.

I’m sure there will be more on Carpenter’s situation within the upcoming days but, for now, we’ll just have to assume that the Cardinals will handle this as best as possible.

Their pitching plans certainly look different without Carpenter in the fold, but they have all of spring training to iron out those problems.

If this is the end for Carpenter, he’ll finish with a career record of 144-94, a 3.76 ERA and the 2005 NL Cy Young Award.

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Lost in the hype of Jurickson Profar, Dylan Bundy and Wil Myers is St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect Oscar Taveras.

Actually, he’s even lost in the hype of his teammate, fellow top-10 prospect Shelby Miller.

I had Taveras No. 17 in my last rankings, and in my current rankings, he’s moved up significantly to No. 3. There’s good reason for that too.

In 2012, Taveras exploded in Double-A, hitting .321 with 23 home runs and 94 RBI. His plate discipline for a 20-year-old is the most impressive thing about Taveras. In 531 plate appearances in 2012, he struck out 56 times and walked 42 times, posting a .380 OBP, combined with an above-average .323 BABIP (per FanGraphs) and .341 TAv (per Baseball Prospectus).

Right now, I have Taveras at a 50 in the arm, fielding and speed categories on an 80-point scale. Once he matures more and grows (currently listed at 6’2″, 180 pounds) he’ll lose range. His defense has improved from 2010 and 2011, but he won’t stick in center and will likely take the role of a corner outfielder. I don’t see him moving beyond a 50 here.

On the other hand, his hitting and power have massive upside. On the 80-point scale, I see Taveras as a 70 hitter. I mentioned his discipline is very good and his contact is off-the-charts good. He has great balance in his swing and, like Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, he swings hard. Based on his contact rate and discipline alone, he could be a solid player in the majors right now. I’m not sure how much better he can get, but I rate him as an 80 for future hitting with potential to hit .300 every year.

Power-wise I currently rate him as a 50. This is an early measure but a good one so far. I don’t think his sudden output in 2012 was a fluke at all. I have him rated for more potential in this category—as a 25-30 home run hitter—reaching no more than a 70. I’ll note, though, that I’m buying cautiously on his power that high right now. He can hit to all fields and should hit a ton of doubles in the process.

From an overall outlook, Taveras has the tools to be in the majors right now and follow Harper, Trout and Manny Machado in the outstanding wave of 20-year-olds that has taken over baseball. Taveras will start the year in Triple-A but should make his debut in 2013 barring any setback in his progress.

When he gets there, he won’t be overwhelmed and could be among the Cardinals’ best hitters in 2014, batting alongside Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and David Freese.

At this point, I don’t see a lot of risk. He’s young but has adjusted well and very fast. My main concern at this point would be if he sacrifices that amazing contact for power or doesn’t mature physically as expected.

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