Bad rumor out of St. Louis

[cards05]

Driving to work, some insiders on sports talk radio were saying that it's likely Chris Carpenter will undergo tommy john surgery, causing him to miss this year and most of next year. It's all over the message boards at STLToday, as well.

This is not yet confirmed, so take it for what it's worth.

[5]

I know he wanted to come back for his sake I guess it's good that the Cards are struggling...don't wanna rush arm troubles.

He just hasn't been the same since the Mets knocked him around on Opening Day.

[Richie Rich]

i read on the yahoo yellow note pad thingy (LOL!) that he went to Birmingham, AL...we all know what that means...my 2nd round pick, sigh...never again will it a pitcher before the 3rd or 4th round @ the earliest...

[skapur20]

its just a rumor, nothing definite yet for sure.

but just the fact its even being considered and thrown out there(by who? probaly a stupid reporter..) is a bit scary. guys suppose to be my dynasty team ace. now theres a possibility(very small right now) that he wont be back till 09??

thanks for burning me all year Carp.

cant wait to see what you do next..

[Danger]

Well this can't bode well for Carp owners. Being on a tour of specialists and seeing the grim reaper of them all isn't a good sign. The fact that the Cardinals probably know they have no chance to win the series or even make the playoffs this year probably has something to do with it as well.

[rails80]

I'll say it again - dealing Carpenter for Hamels was the best move of the season!

[Dan Lambskin]

I'll say it again - dealing Carpenter for Hamels was the best move of the season!

right up there with me dealing Carp and Sean Marshall for Brandon Phillips and Pettitte last week

[BillyMafia]

This from chat on Joe Strauss baseball chat today on stltoday.com

Matt: I'm assuming that since no one has reported anything about Carpenter, that he's still in a holding pattern for the forseeable future. Any news on him at all???

Joe Strauss: Derrick Goold confirmed in today's paper that Carpenter has traveled to New York and Birmingham recently to consult with outside orthopedics. The club has sent mixed signals the last couple days (Goold was told Monday that Carpenter had not gone to NY because of travel snafus but Carp' did indeed visit the same orthopedic who did the Mulder surgery last September.) Except for a reference to Carpenter's arthritic elbow, no one is confirming the likelihood of a second surgery, but the fact that Cardinals orthopedic Dr. George Paletta has Carpenter making this tour suggests something seriously wrong is suspected. A week after the club thought Carpenter could possibly start in the upcoming Cubs series at Busch, it appears unlikely he will pitch this season. Whatever hopes this team had for making an Aug./Sept run just took a massive body blow.

[hwiggen]

Wow, the Cardinals go from having Carpenter and Buhrle at the top of the rotation in '08 to probably having neither. What are they going to do?

[memito]

Wow. .. and partly due to the recommendation on this site, I had offered Guthrie (SP) and Pena (1B) for Carpenter... but his owner just ignored me.

Thank god!