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Cardinals Place Jordan Walker On 10-Day IL, Select Ryan Vilade

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The Cardinals announced that outfielder Jordan Walker has been placed on the team’s 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) due to left wrist inflammation.  Right-hander Gordon Graceffo has also been optioned to Triple-A, while coming up from Triple-A are right-hander Roddery Munoz and utilityman Ryan Vilade.  In Vilade’s case, his minor league contract was selected to the Cards’ active roster.

The IL trip comes at a particularly inopportune time for Walker, as he was starting to heat up after an extended slump.  After posting just a .502 OPS over his first 138 plate appearances of the season, Walker had hit .333/.353/.545 over his last 34 trips to the dish.  These ups and downs have come over the first true extended stint of everyday playing time Walker has had in his three MLB seasons, as he has been the Cardinals’ starting right fielder for the majority of the 2025 season.

St. Louis came into the year committed to finding playing time for some of its younger players, and Walker has remained a lineup regular despite his struggles.  With Walker now sidelined, Alec Burleson or Brendan Donovan could see more time in the outfield, and Donovan moving more into the outfield mix could open up second base for Nolan Gorman.

Vilade’s multi-positional ability should also net him some looks as the 26-year-old is on the verge of his first big league action of 2025.  The Cardinals signed Vilade to a minor league deal during the offseason, and he has thus far played all three outfield positions as well as first, second, and third base over 48 games with Triple-A Memphis.  Beyond his contributions to the depth chart, Vilade has also drawn attention with his bat, as he is hitting .280/.375/.476 over 192 PA with Memphis.

Vilade’s MLB resume consists of 20 career games — three with the Rockies in 2021 and 17 with the Tigers last season, with 56 PA and a .416 OPS to show for that small taste of the Show.  His minor league numbers are naturally much more solid, with Vilade producing consistently better offense over parts of four seasons now of Triple-A ball.

Rockies, Nick Anderson Agree To Minor League Deal

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Reliever Nick Anderson has a minor league deal with the Rockies, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, had been on a minor league contract with the Cardinals. He triggered an opt-out and quickly found another landing spot.

Anderson had been pitching for the Cards’ top farm team in Memphis. He made 17 appearances, allowing a 6.20 ERA over 20 1/3 innings. His respective strikeout (21.5%) and walk (8.6%) rates weren’t terrible, but he gave up a fair amount of hard contact and had a tough time stranding runners. St. Louis unsurprisingly decided not to call him up when he triggered the out clause.

The 34-year-old Anderson appeared in the majors with the Royals in the first half of last season. He tossed 35 2/3 frames of 4.04 ERA ball with a modest 19% strikeout rate. Anderson subsequently spent time in Triple-A with the Dodgers and Orioles but didn’t get a major league opportunity with either club.

Anderson has been a journeyman middle relief type since his brilliant 2019-20 run between Miami and Tampa Bay. He provided the Braves 35 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball a couple seasons back and still sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball. Colorado’s bullpen has managed a serviceable 4.29 ERA overall, but they’re last in MLB with an 18.9% strikeout rate.

MLBTR Podcast: Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should the Orioles trade Félix Bautista at the deadline? (29:35)
  • What are the chances the Giants could sign Kyle Tucker this offseason? (35:10)
  • Are the Cardinals for real? (40:35)
  • Does Kevin Alcántara of the Cubs get traded this summer? (48:10)
  • The Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the injured list. Does this reflect poorly on the club’s training and conditioning? (51:15)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images

Poll: Can The Cardinals Keep This Up?

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Today is Memorial Day, and the conventional wisdom in baseball suggests that means the current standings now have more signal than noise moving forward. Perhaps that means it’s time to take the Cardinals, who have been white-hot in recent weeks, more seriously despite the narratives surrounding their quiet offseason and slow start to the year last month. A nine-game win streak earlier this month has helped propel them to a 16-4 record over their past 20 games and a 30-23 record overall. That’s put them in a statistical tie with the Padres for the final NL Wild Card spot as things stand and just two games back of the Cubs in the NL Central.

When looking at the eight teams that have won 30+ games entering Memorial Day, it’s hard to deny that the Cardinals are the most surprising. As previously mentioned, they made virtually no additions this winter as they signed Phil Maton late in the offseason but otherwise stood pat while players like Paul Goldschmidt and Kyle Gibson departed the organization. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that players who appeared likely to be a big part of any success the Cardinals may have had this year, like youngsters Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, are struggling badly. Willson Contreras was a standout at the plate last year but has been merely league average this season and is currently day-to-day with a back injury, while Nolan Arenado is hitting at a below-average clip after the Cards failed to trade him this winter. Even on-paper ace Sonny Gray has a middling 4.06 ERA through 11 starts, and closer Ryan Helsley’s 3.50 ERA is his weakest since 2021.

Instead of the usual suspects, the Cardinals’ successes have come from unlikely places. The best hitter on the team is Brendan Donovan, who has long been a steady piece for St. Louis but now appears to be in the midst of a breakout season in his age-28 campaign with a 140 wRC+ and 2.0 fWAR across 51 games. The ace of the rotation is Matthew Liberatore, who has a 2.73 ERA in ten starts so far despite having never posted an ERA below 4.40 in the big leagues before and not even being assured of a rotation role entering camp this year. Behind Liberatore, Miles Mikolas has turned back the clock in his age-36 season to post a solid 3.51 ERA in his first ten starts and fellow veteran Steven Matz has been brilliant in a swing role with a 1.99 ERA in 31 2/3 innings of work.

All of this surprising performances beg the question: how sustainable can this be? Mikolas, Andre Pallante, and Erick Fedde are all pitching well above their peripherals so far this year. Impressive as he’s been, Ivan Herrera won’t finish the year with a wRC+ above 200. Even Donovan’s .360 BABIP must be looked at with at least some skepticism, as should the league average performance the Cards have gotten out of Victor Scott II and his .368 BABIP. On the other hand, many of the club’s more established players should be expected to improve. Gray and Contreras have both performed to their usual All-Star caliber levels when looking at the underlying metrics, Arenado’s .245 BABIP would be the lowest of his career in a full season, and Lars Nootbaar’s solid 112 wRC+ may be just the tip of the iceberg with his discipline and power potential. There’s also some players, such as Liberatore and Donovan, whose breakouts are fairly convincing even if they aren’t locks to stay quite as good as they have been so far.

Where does that leave the Cardinals? If you look at the playoff odds over at Fangraphs, the answer is likely outside of the final playoff picture. The club is projected by the site for an 84-win season with a 39.1% chance of making the playoffs. If you gave fans in St. Louis those odds at the start of the 2025 season, the vast majority would’ve surely taken that happily. As it stands, however, winning a touch under half their games for the rest of the season would surely be a disappointing outcome after this exciting start to the season. At the same time, it’s not hard to see why projection systems might doubt the Cardinals. The NL Wild Card race has been extremely competitive so far, even with strong teams like the Diamondbacks and Braves struggling to find their footing so far. That could make St. Louis’s best path to the postseason through the NL Central, where the Cubs are projected to win 90 games and have the NL’s easiest schedule the rest of the way.

Where do MLBTR readers believe the Cardinals will end up? Is postseason baseball returning to St. Louis this October, or will this team wind up at home like they did the past two seasons? Have your say in the poll below:

Kolten Wong Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder Kolten Wong announced his retirement from professional baseball earlier today at his alma mater, University of Hawaii, as relayed by Brian McInnis of Spectrum News. Wong was in town to throw out the first pitch at a game against UC San Diego.

“Pretty much right now, I’m done,” Wong said, as relayed by McInnis. “I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to be hanging them up. It’s just one of those things where, the game how it’s going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I’m a dad now, yes, I’m enjoying that. I’m trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I’m going to stick to that.”

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, the 34-year-old Wong was drafted 22nd overall by the Cardinals back in 2011. He made his way to the majors for a brief cup of coffee just two years later, but his big league career began in earnest during the 2014 season. That year, Wong appeared in 113 games for the Cardinals and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Jacob deGrom and Billy Hamilton after slashing .249/.292/.388 in 433 trips to the plate while playing second base exclusively for St. Louis. Wong would go on as a roughly average regular with the Cards for a few years, getting a brief look in the outfield during the 2016 season to accommodate occasional reps at the position for Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko but otherwise remaining locked in as the club’s everyday second baseman thanks to nearly average offense (92 wRC+) and fantastic defense at the keystone.

Wong enjoyed something of a breakout during his age-26 season with the Cardinals in 2017, as he slashed .285/.376/.412 with a 108 wRC+. It was his best offensive season to that point in his career, and while injuries limited him to just 108 games that year he would turn in above average results overall at the plate from the start of that season onward. That was a fortuitous step forward for the Cardinals, seeing as it came in just the second year of a five-year, $25.5MM extension the sides agreed to prior to the 2016 season. Wong hit a combined .273/.356/.398 (104 wRC+) while playing stellar defense over the course of his final four years in St. Louis, even earning Gold Glove awards for his work at second base during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Aside from that solid regular season production, Wong departed St. Louis with a solid postseason resume, having slashed .206/.243/.464 with five homers, four stolen bases, eight doubles, and a triple in 104 postseason plate appearances for the Cards. The Cardinals ultimately declined Wong’s 2021 club option and allowed him to test free agency in order to create an everyday spot in the lineup for utility man Tommy Edman. Wong eventually signed with the Brewers on a two-year, $18MM guarantee that came with a club option for the 2023 season. Wong’s defensive numbers took a step back during his time in Milwaukee as he entered his age-30 season, but his offense was better than ever as he hit a strong .262/.337/.439 (113 wRC+) across his two campaigns with the club.

Unlike the Cardinals before them, the Brewers did pick up his third year club option. With that being said, he still found himself in another uniform prior to the 2023 campaign as he was traded to the Mariners in a deal that brought Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to Milwaukee. It’s a deal that didn’t work out for anyone, as none of those players were particularly effective for their new clubs. Wong struggled mightily during his time in Seattle, hitting just .165/.241/.227 across 67 games before he was released in early August.

Wong signed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter, however, and managed to end his big league career on a high note as he slashed an impressive .300/.353/.500 (129 wRC+) over 20 games in Los Angeles before participating in the NLDS with the club. Headed into 2024, Wong signed briefly with both the Orioles and the Diamondbacks on minor league deals. He hit .271/.339/.383 in 121 trips to the plate for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno before being granted his release just under a year ago. He’s not played in affiliated ball since, and after going unsigned this offseason Wong has evidently decided to put his playing career behind him.

In all, Wong wraps his MLB career with a .256/.330/.390 career slash line, good for a roughly league average 97 wRC+. That triple slash comes across 1189 games and encapsulates a career that saw him collect 973 hits, 303 extra-base hits, 511 runs scored and 405 runs batted in. In addition to his aforementioned two Gold Glove awards and status as a Rookie of the Year finalist, Wong also received down-ballot consideration for the NL MVP award during the 2019 season. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Wong on a fine career, and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Poll: National League Playoff Outlook

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We’re now a little over a quarter of the way through the 2025 regular season. With Memorial Day fast approaching, it’s hard for struggling teams to continue arguing that it’s still early. That isn’t to say playoff positions are set in stone, of course; on this day last year, the Cubs were firmly in playoff position while the Mets club that eventually made it all the way to the NLCS was still three games under .500. If the season ended today, the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Padres, Phillies, and Giants would be your playoff teams in the National League this year.

With four-and-a-half months left in the baseball calendar, which team currently outside of that group has the best chance of breaking their way into the mix? Yesterday’s poll covering the American League was won by the Red Sox (25%), who narrowly bested both the Rangers (20%) and Astros (20%) in a tight contest. Here’s a look at a few of NL’s the options, listed in order of record entering play today:

St. Louis Cardinals (24-20)

The Cardinals essentially left their roster untouched outside of the departure of veterans like Paul Goldschmidt and Kyle Gibson over the offseason. Right-hander Phil Maton was the club’s only major league free agent signing. Running back last year’s 83-win team without its former MVP first baseman didn’t do much for the Cardinals’ projections, but a recent nine-game win streak has allowed St. Louis to change the narrative. Willson Contreras has started hitting again, Masyn Winn could be breaking out, and Matthew Liberatore is making the decision to move him to the rotation look wise. If the Cards can keep playing anything close to this well, thoughts of selling Ryan Helsley at the deadline are likely to vanish before the calendar flips to July.

Arizona Diamondbacks (23-21)

The fourth team in a crowded four-team NL West race, the Diamondbacks have held their own this year despite injuries plaguing superstar Ketel Marte and the loss of A.J. Puk from an already-leaky bullpen. Corbin Burnes has delivered a sub-3.00 ERA despite shaky peripherals, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt look like solid mid-rotation pieces, and Corbin Carroll is a superstar. If Zac Gallen (4.59 ERA) and Eduardo Rodriguez (7.07 ERA) can even pitch close to their respective 3.91 FIP and 4.30 FIP marks, Arizona should be a real threat to reach the postseason.

Atlanta Braves (22-22)

That Atlanta finds itself even in this conversation after going 0-7 to start the year is an impressive feat. The tandem of Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin behind the plate has been a sensational one, and AJ Smith-Shawver is turning into a potential front-of-the-rotation surprise alongside Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach. With a .500 record despite getting just one start from Spencer Strider and zero plate appearances from Ronald Acuna Jr. so far, it’s not hard to imagine the Braves fighting their way into the playoffs by season’s end. For that to happen, players like Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies will need to start hitting while closer Raisel Iglesias (5.71 ERA) will need to turn things around or be replaced by someone who can more consistently nail down save opportunities.

Milwaukee Brewers (21-23)

Disappointing performances from Christian Yelich, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio to this point in the year have limited the Brewers’ performance so far. (Contreras is playing through a broken middle finger, which can’t help.) Thankfully, players like Rhys Hoskins and Brice Turang have both looked excellent so far and the Brewers have proved they can win mostly on the strength of their pitching before. Freddy Peralta and rookie Chad Patrick have been excellent, Brandon Woodruff is nearing a return, and top prospect Jacob Misiorowski is throwing 103 mph with dazzling results at Triple-A. If the star hitters can perform at a higher level going forward, perhaps that would be enough to get them back into the mix.

Cincinnati Reds (21-24)

It’s been a frustrating season for the Reds so far. The rotation, led by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, has been strong, but those contributions have been dampened by a frustrating lineup that has failed to get consistent quality production out of anyone but Jose Trevino and Gavin Lux. Even Elly De La Cruz has been a roughly average hitter overall, while key pieces like Matt McLain and Spencer Steer have been bitterly disappointing. Fortunately, Noelvi Marte seems to be coming around after a disastrous 2024. There’s still enough time that if the club’s young lineup can go on a heater, it’s easy to imagine a strong pitching staff carrying them back into the postseason conversation.

The Rest Of The Field

The five teams mentioned above are all within five games of a Wild Card spot. The rest of the league would have a lot more work to do. The Nationals have an exciting young core featuring James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore but lack the pitching depth to capitalize on it. The Marlins have gotten a big performance from Kyle Stowers, but a disappointing pitching staff that includes an 8.10 ERA from Sandy Alcantara is keeping the playoffs out of reach. The inverse is true in Pittsburgh, where Paul Skenes leads an impressive rotation but Bryan Reynolds has a wRC+ of just 55. Meanwhile, the Rockies are the team that can be most decisively counted out of the playoff picture in a season where they’re poised to contend for the modern loss record.

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Which of the teams outside of the NL playoff picture entering play today do MLBTR readers think stands the best chance of making it into the postseason? Have your say in the poll below:

MLBTR Podcast: Devers Drama, Managerial Firings, And Jordan Lawlar

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should the Orioles try to extend Cedric Mullins or Tomoyuki Sugano (35:05)
  • How real are the Twins and the Tigers? (39:00)
  • What should the Cardinals do in right field if Jordan Walker doesn’t get going? (44:50)
  • Why do the Mets seemingly do better with external pitching additions than their homegrown arms? (49:25)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Pirates Claim Michael Helman

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The Pirates have claimed infielder/outfielder Michael Helman off waivers from the Cardinals, according to announcements from both clubs. There was no previous indication that the Cards had removed Helman from their 40-man roster, so their count drops to 39. The Bucs opened a 40-man spot by transferring infielder Enmanuel Valdéz to the 60-day injured list.

Helman, 29 this month, has a tiny amount of big league experience. He got 10 plate appearances with the Twins last year, collecting three hits while also striking out three times. He was traded to the Cardinals in February for cash.

His 2025 season is out to a rough start. In 73 Triple-A plate appearances, he has a .185/.260/.292 batting line and 50 wRC+, indicating he’s been 50% worse than league average. Perhaps the Cardinals felt that those poor numbers would help Helman sneak through waivers, so they quietly put him on the wire.

However, the Bucs have swooped in and grabbed him, presumably overlooking his 2025 numbers and focusing on his other seasons. Over 2023 and 2024, Helman took 480 minor league plate appearances, hitting 21 home runs and slashing .282/.356/.507 for a 121 wRC+. He still has a full slate of options, so the Pirates can keep him in the minors and see if he bounces back. If he does, he could be a versatile utility piece. He has played every position outside the battery in his minor league career.

As for Valdéz, he landed on the 10-day IL a few days ago due to left shoulder inflammation. His status is unclear but the fact that he has been quickly moved to the 60-day IL doesn’t bode well. He’s now ineligible to return until July.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Cardinals’ Sem Robberse Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Cardinals placed pitching prospect Sem Robberse on the full-season injured list in the minor leagues today. The club announced to reporters, including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, that the righty has undergone Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the remainder of this season and part of 2026 as well.

Robberse, now 23, was one of two young pitchers the Cardinals acquired from the Blue Jays in the 2023 deadline deal which sent Jordan Hicks to Toronto. Robberse was set to be eligible in the Rule 5 draft a few months later, but the Cards protected him by adding him to their 40-man roster that November.

The young Netherlands-born righty has generally been a serviceable starter in the minors. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 414 1/3 innings, allowing 4.04 earned runs per nine. His 22.5% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in that span were both fairly average numbers. He also got ground balls on close to half of the balls in play he allowed.

This year, he got out to a rough start, posting a 7.36 ERA over four Triple-A outings. However, that seems to have been mostly bad luck. His .447 batting average on balls in play and 61.6% strand rate in that small sample were both to the unfortunate side. Meanwhile, his 24.7% strikeout rate and 46.8% ground ball rate were both strong numbers. His 10.4% walk rate was on the high side but not egregiously so.

Regardless, Robberse is not going to get a chance to correct those numbers, an unfortunate blow for him and the team. It’s not a huge deal in the short term. The St. Louis rotation is so healthy right now that Steven Matz has been bumped to the bullpen multiple times, despite strong results. Michael McGreevy is stuck in Triple-A even though he’s putting up good numbers there.

Still, depth can disappear fast and this is the second hit the Cards have taken in that department. Cooper Hjerpe, one of the club’s top pitching prospects, required his own Tommy John surgery last month.

In the longer term, this will cloud Robberse’s path to making it to the majors. The Cards are slated to lose Matz, Miles Mikolas and Erick Fedde to free agency this winter. That would leave them with a projected 2026 rotation of Sonny Gray, Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore, with two potential rotation spots open.

Instead of competing for a role in the starting mix, Robberse will be rehabbing from his surgery. He’s currently in his second of three option years. That means 2026 could be his final option year, if he sticks on the 40-man roster through the upcoming offseason. He probably won’t be fully healthy until midway through that 2026 season. The Cards could call him up and put him on the major league 60-day IL at some point, if they so choose. Doing so would open a 40-man roster spot but it would also involve Robberse earning major league pay and service time.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Matt Carpenter Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder Matt Carpenter announced his retirement on Sports Spectrum’s Get In The Game podcast (h/t to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) this morning. He hangs up his spikes after 14 years in the majors.

“I wanted to take this opportunity on this podcast, here with you, and officially announce my retirement from baseball. I was very fortunate enough to play for some great organizations, and had quite a thrill being able to don the St. Louis Cardinals logo for many years, a brief stint with the New York Yankees, and also the San Diego Padres.” Carpenter told former MLB pitcher Scott Linebrink. Carpenter went on to thank his family, before adding that he’s “excited for what’s next.”

Matt Carpenter | Jeff Curry-USA TODAY SportsA veteran of 14 MLB seasons, Carpenter was open to continuing his career in 2025 as recently as this past September. That was following a season with the Cardinals where he battled injuries and struck out at a 32.5% clip but still produced a roughly average 95 wRC+ across 157 plate appearances in a part-time role. That sort of production was still enough to make Carpenter a solid bench piece, though with the Cardinals’ attempted pivot towards providing young players more opportunities this year, a reunion between the 39-year-old and his longtime club evidently wasn’t in the cards.

As Carpenter mentioned, he was wearing Cardinal red for most of his career. The Cards selected him in the 13th round of the 2009 draft. He made it to the big leagues in 2011, the year of the club’s most recent World Series win, but he was a footnote in that season. He was selected to the roster in June and optioned back to the minors after a seven-game cup of coffee.

His major league career began in earnest in 2012. As a 26-year-old rookie that year, Carpenter took to hitting in the majors almost right away. He hit an impressive .294/.365/.463 in 114 games while splitting time between first base, second base, third base, and both outfield corners. That show of versatility was enough to earn Carpenter a sixth-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting despite the fact that he had yet to generate the type of power he would later in his career, clubbing just six homers in 340 trips to the plate. He also hit .286/.412/.571 in playoff games, though the Cards were felled by the Giants in the NLCS.

He took a step forward in 2013 and had arguably his best season. He almost doubled his power output, getting to 11 home runs. He walked at a 10% clip and only struck out 13.7% of the time. That led to a .318/.392/.481 slash and 146 wRC+. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time. FanGraphs credits him with 7.2 wins above replacement for that season, his personal best by a good margin. He finished fourth in National League Most Valuable Player voting. Carpenter didn’t perform especially well in the postseason that year, hitting .217/.263/.290, but the Cards made it as far as the World Series, losing to the Red Sox in six games.

The Cards then locked him up on an extension which would pay him $52MM over the 2014 to 2019 seasons and keep him in St. Louis into his mid-3os. Over the rest of the decade, his production shifted slightly, with a bit more power but a bit less on-base ability. The aggregate was roughly similar though, making him a very useful player as he bounced around the infield. From 2015 to 2018, he hit between 21 and 36 home runs in each season, totalling 108 long balls in that four-year stretch. He slashed a combined .260/.376/.497 for that span, leading to a 135 wRC+.

In April of 2019, as Carpenter was entering the final guaranteed year of his deal, he and the Cards agreed to another extension. This one would pay him $39MM over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. However, that ultimately proved to be a misstep for the club, as Carpenter’s production declined over those next few years. His wRC+ finished at 96 in 2019, then 85 in the shortened 2020 campaign, before going all the way down to 68 in 2021.

The Cards could have retained Carpenter for 2022 via an $18.5MM club option, but with his declining results, the $2MM buyout was the easy call. That sent him to free agency for the first time in his career, ahead of his age-36 season.

Though many had written him off at that point, Carpenter was able to engineer a brief but brilliant renaissance. Thanks to some help from Joey Votto, as reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Carpenter worked to revamp his swing. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and clubbed six home runs in 21 games for their Triple-A club. Despite the strong results, the Rangers weren’t willing to give him a spot, so they released him.

The Yankees gave Carpenter a major league deal, which paid off immediately. He amazingly hit 15 home runs in just 47 games for the Yanks, while also walking at a 12.3% pace. Unfortunately, that amazing run was cut short when Carpenter fouled a ball off his foot in August. He suffered a fracture and missed the rest of the regular season. He was activated for the playoffs but struck out in nine of his 12 plate appearances. His regular season line for that year finished at a ridiculous .305/.412/.727, translating to a 216 wRC+.

Though it was cut short by injury, the Padres bought into Carpenter’s return to form. They signed him to a two-year, $12MM deal going into 2023, but that bet didn’t pay off. Carpenter slashed .176/.322/.319 for the Friars that year. He was traded to Atlanta ahead of the 2024 season in what was clearly a salary dump deal, as Atlanta released him shortly thereafter. He returned to the Cardinals and, as mentioned, had a serviceable season as a role player. That will now go down as his final big league season.

All told, Carpenter got into 1,511 games and stepped to the plate 5,773 times. He had 1,257 hits, including 179 home runs. He scored 813 runs and drove in 659. He walked in 13.4% of his plate appearances, helping him slash .259/.366/.449 for a 125 wRC+. He produced 31.5 fWAR and 28.7bWAR, making three All-Star teams along the way. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings at just over the $100MM mark.

We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Carpenter on his fine career and wish him the best with whatever comes next.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

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