"Chris Carpenter, the pitching hero of last year's Cardinals World Series run, made an appearance at the Cardinals Winter Warm-Up today and talked about past successes and the somewhat uncertain future.

"There's a lot of excitment around this ball club, after everything that went on at the end," said Carpenter. "It went from excitement to a little bit of sadness with Tony (manager Tony La Russa retired). And obviously with Albert (Pujols) leaving, it brought some questions, but I'm excited about the opportunity we're going to have.

"Losing Albert is a big thing, but that is the game. The things that he brought to this organization and this community are enormous and he should be praised for that and not beat up for it.

"Hopefully, they'll welcome him back at some point in time."

Carpenter said his leadership role in the clubhouse wouldn't change with Pujols gone, but he expected that veteran catcher Yadier Molina might have a more vocal standing. "