Carpenter: NL Central race will come down to the wire
ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals say their rivalry with the Chicago Cubs already had more than enough spice before their NL Central rivals signed Jason Heyward and John Lackey.
''Would it have been nicer to see Lackey end up in Australia? Sure,'' general manager John Mozeliak said Saturday at the team's annual Winter Warmup. ''But it didn't happen. I certainly look at what we have and we'll adjust accordingly.''
The division champions, coming off a major league-leading 100-win, haven't quite made the same offseason splash as the 97-win team that eliminated them in the NL Division Series last fall. St. Louis has added Mike Leake, Jedd Gyorko and Japanese League standout reliever Seung Hwan Oh.
The Cubs also added infielder Ben Zobrist.
''They took some guys from our team that were big parts of it that we're going to have to replace,'' St. Louis leadoff man Matt Carpenter said. ''I think we've got the pieces to replace them. It's going to come down to the end, not to mention that the Pirates are going to be right in the thick of it as well.''
The Cardinals and wild-card Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates gave the NL Central the three best records in the league last season.
After Heyward took a free agent deal with Chicago, he cited being part of a younger core.
''You can't get mad at a guy for doing what's he thinks best for himself,'' Carpenter said. ''Certainly, we loved having him here and I told him we're going to be friends, but when the game comes on we're going to come at you.''