Veteran Matt Carpenter is winding down his 14th big league season but isn’t necessarily going to stop there. He tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he’s willing to return next year, even if it’s in the part-time role he’s had in 2024.
“I’m certainly open to play,” Carpenter said. “I like this role. I think considering the role, I feel like I’ve done well in it, and I also think, more importantly, I understand the bigger picture of it. I’d be open to doing it again.”
Carpenter signed a one-year deal with the Cards for 2024, his age-38 season. He began the winter under contract to the Padres, triggering a $5.5MM player option. San Diego traded him to Atlanta alongside Ray Kerr and some cash considerations for minor league outfielder Drew Campbell, but mostly to get rid of some money. Atlanta took on a chunk of that salary to get Kerr in that deal, quickly releasing Carpenter, which allowed the Cards to sign him for the league minimum.
Around a couple of injured list stints, one for a right oblique strain and the other for a lower back strain, Carpenter has stepped to the plate 146 times in 54 appearances this year. He has struck out 31.5% of the time and drawn walks at a 9.6% clip. That walk rate is above league average but both of those rates are career worsts for Carpenter personally. He has hit four home runs and his .236/.317/.378 batting line leads to a 97 wRC+, indicating he has been just a bit below league average overall.
Most of that has come as a designated hitter or pinch hitter. His defensive contributions for the year have consisted of eight innings at first base, one at second base and three at third. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference grade his season just barely below replacement level.
Strictly looking at the on-field performance, there may not be a ton of interest there. He was a strong player for the Cardinals from 2012 to 2018 but hasn’t been above average at the plate for a lengthy stretch since then. After worsening struggles from 2019 to 2021, he tried revamping his swing and re-emerged with a vengeance in 2022. He put up a monster line of .305/.412/.727 with the Yankees that year, though in only 47 games. He didn’t get his shot until a couple of months into the season and then had his comeback shortened by injury. The Padres believed in the bounceback enough to give him a two-year deal, including the aforementioned player option, but the first year didn’t go well and they sent him packing after that.
Carpenter can perhaps bring other elements to the table in a less tangible fashion, serving as a mentor and clubhouse leader. But given his numbers, he may be limited to minor league offers or perhaps a veteran sage role on a rebuilding club.
“Going to cross that bridge when we get there,” Carpenter said to Goold of his offseason market. “I’m open to playing. We’ll see what that looks like. I’m open to doing this role again. I’m open to just a lot of things. We’ll see.”
Oh yeah, I’m sure there’s going to be a ton of demand.
Teams, please just use your best AAA hitter instead of signing Carpenter.
Probably an improvement for the white sox
Kyle Hendricks wants to pitch too. Pretty sure all old and worn out guys want to keep playing and raking in some cash. Somebody has to want you first. Or to put it blatantly, Somebody has to be stupid enough to let it happen. You just hope it isn’t the team you root for.
@unclemike
I’m sure money plays a large part of it but I’m also sure not wanting to give up the game you love plays a big part as well!
If that’s true there’s always the Independent league.
Haha touché my friend, touché.
His slash line is better than some of the White Sox hitters…
38-124…
Yikes.
The season isn’t over yet, they might only lose 123 games.
I am open to playing in 2025 too. Not that they want an old, broken down guy, but I am open to it!
You’d probably hit better than most of the White Sox hitters! That’s a sad statement…
97 wRC+ in 2024? That’s pretty decent.
He could go play in Mexico with Bauer.
Question: Why the Yomiuri Giants logo? Just wondering.
@Clofreesz
I like the team.
Question: Why no user image at all? Just wondering.
Thanks for the feedback.
Answer: I don’t really want to reveal too much. Just think of me as a baseball man behind a computer screen.
In 22, he took the risk of “enhancing” his performance, figuring he’d do it just long enough not to get caught but to get that next deal. SD fell for it. By “enhancing” I’m referring to his swing mechanics, of course…
I would too if I were making $5 Mil to pinch hit every few days.
Maybe he can come back as a knuckleballing reliever. Matt needs to expand his versatility profile to be worth something to some team.
Bullpen catcher? Batting practice pitcher?
Clubhouse Attendant?
All he needs is another team to think he’d be a good clubhouse presence and pay him $2MM to be the 26th guy and snap towels in the showers.
I would love to see MC in a coaching role in the organization, working with the younger players in the minors. He could find himself in the bigs as a coach later. He has played all over the field and was good at the plate in walking and had a decent on base percentage. With that said the team needs to move on with someone else next year.
Someone will give him a chance if he’s willing to sign a minor league deal and earn it. Guys like DiPoto and Krall love collecting veterans for training camp
I think the next time he puts on a major league uniform it will be a coaching job.
He should go to the Braves.
@Amex: The Braves immediately released him and ate his $5.5M salary when they treaded for Kerr. Pretty obvious they had no interest in him. Have no doubt their assessment of him hasn’t changed.
I’m open to playing in 25 but it doesn’t mean I should.
Do the Cards a favor and retire or move on
I feel we sometimes underestimate how hard it is to put up even league average numbers when you don’t get regular playing time. The idea behind seeing someone like Carpenter have value in his role is that you don’t want to have a young player that you are developing get playing time that is that sporadic. Young guys need to play to develop and so if your team is designed to have a roster spot that rarely sees playing time a guy who can give you league avg numbers with only playing once a week is valuable and hard to find. (extreme example being how little the Braves bench was used earlier this season up until they started having the injuries to their regulars) Now some teams aren’t designed to have a roster spot that gets used so little because they play matchups more often or want to have super utility types, and so Carp wouldn’t work as well for a team like that, but his abilities still have their place on a team with a lot of regulars that play every day.
For God’s sake WHY?
Let us pray.