Reading between the lines on his interviews, Carp likes the team, the style of play, the commitment to winning, etc. and wants to stay a part of it.  All due respect to the great city of St. Louis, I would term it a Cardinal discount instead of a St. Louis discount.

for example, some recent economic research shows that people who live in suburbs and commute to work in cities save little or no money because of the increase in transportation costs. in effect, they are trading the added time cost inherent in commutes for a perceived savings in rent that really isn't there. (obviously, there may be other concerns... often suburbs are safer than cities, have better schools, etc.).

obviously, if Pujols spends 1 million dollars to help kids in Dominican Republic, it's the same as if Big Papi spent 1 million in one sense: in the DR, that one million can buy the same bundle of stuff.

but Pujols' million would go further in St. Louis, or Kansas City (wherever he lives), so the net effect is that he is actually giving up "more" money by donating.

now, some of that is mathematical; Kip Wells probably isn't going to spend all 4 million bucks directly in the areas in St. Louis that are less expensive than NYC, so his salary isn't really worth twice as much as if he'd signed with the Yankees. a lot of these ballplayers have permanent residences in places other than their team's home city, so it doesn't really matter (too much) what the cost-of-living disparity is.

yadda yadda. in brief, the disparity is there, most likely no one considers it, and most likely the effect isn't as great as some academics would have us believe. at least for ballplayers.

Additionally, Carp gave us one heck of a discount once to repay the team for rehabbing him and keeping him in baseball.  I saw an interview once where he said he was going to hang it up.  He was injured with no contract.  The Cardinals took a low-cost chance on him and kept him in the game.  

It seems to be a love-love relationship.

And, at the end of his time in Red...I bet you can take his overall price per win share and still be blown away at the value vs. dollar we will have gained from him.

The other day on a Brewers board, some of the Brewer fans were commenting on how the Cardinals kept the big stars happy and plugged holes with role players and how they thought it's how a team should operate.   I was proud.

Signing Carp now keeps him happy and thwarts the temptation to test the market.

This rotation has the ability to perform very well or fall flat on its face with many, many DL trips.  I'd rather have something a little more certain for one of the slots 2-5.  Someone who can be counted on 180IP and league average production.

using the inflation calculator available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site (www.bls.gov), if inflation levels remain constant for the three non-option years ('09, '10, '11), Carp's contract will be worth 14.86 mil, 14.53 mil, 14.3 mil, respectively, in 2006 dollars.

if inflation follows recent history, that 12 million option for 2012 is actually only worth 10.24 million.

inflation might not stay the same, but the deal looks more affordable if that assumption holds true, especially since Lilly is going to get 11 million a year for 4 years.

My problem isn't the dollars, it's the length of the contract.  Why add on 4 more guaranteed years 2008-2011 when you have him next year and a no risk option in 08 (meaning no commitment beyond that).  I like Carpenter.  He's a damn good pitcher but there's a reason the organization has held to not giving pitchers long term contracts.  

And the distinction that is important is that they weren't trying to just acquire a player.  Burnett asked for more years and had leverage.  Carpenter's leverage is, imo, minimal at this point.  I'd rather see a contract that maybe vested in the future based on IP.  Even if it was something like 2010 vests if he reaches 180IP in either 2008 or 2009, 2011 vests if he reaches 180IP in 2009 or 2010.  It's the length of the guaranteed commitment that seems unnecessary when he's still under our control.

There's a huge projection that's going on here by guayzimi and kindred (and the Cardinals for that matter) on several fronts. 1) Carpenter stays healthy through 2011 2) he maintains near his performance level through 2011 3) we can balance his contract with youngsters like Rasmus 4) we won't sign other big contracts like Izzy in the future.

It's just too much projection for too long imo.

And I'll be even happier if he doesn't get a contract this offseason