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.”
A 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
Man, that ‘brief stint with the Yankees’ was legendary. Wish it had lasted an entire season.
His entire last few seasons post Mega Contract were bizarre mixed bag, but it was certainly memorable.
Really sucked to see him go off on the Yankees when he spent the first-half with the Rangers. Every home run he hit felt like a slap to the face to me… (As a Rangers fan)
I couldn’t believe how many bombs he was hitting at the start that year if he had stayed healthy he would’ve gotten mvp votes
He was the first player that made me realize rookies don’t have to be young twitchy guys, but can be chill on-base guys too. Enjoyed watching him grow into some power too
Very underrated player. I truly enjoyed watching him rebound and rake with the Yankees.
Underrated? 3 AS teams, SS, 3 MVP vote seasons, $100+ in earnings and other than his colossal 47 games with NY at or below replacement value the rest of his career.
He had a 7-year run in St. Louis where his OPS was .849. That’s well above average. You just proved Damn Yankee$ to be correct. He mostly fell off a cliff after his year 32 season. That’s pretty common.
Underrated is one of the most overused and incorrectly used words in internet comment sections.
You’re saying that underrated is overrated?
@Badf – That is a rather underrated comment…
You clearly know nothing about Matt Carpenter’s career. He spent 7 full seasons between 11% and 58% better than league average with the bat before he left the Cardinals. That is in no way, shape, or form “at or below replacement value” lol
I meant to make the distinction between those 7 good years and the rest of his career. Point was he was recognized and rewarded for those good years. I am unsure how it equals underrated.
During his prime I thought he was a little underrated in that he didn’t have the big HR or RBI numbers or even AVG most seasons (or steals) but he hit a ton of doubles and walked a lot with a decent amount of HR. Getting into all-star games is not really a good indication. The cardinals were a really good team and they have a very good fan base. They vote guys in when they are good. The voters for awards are pretty decent nowadays too but it’s not an indication that the average fan is aware of how good he was. And going out with a whimper does little to help. But it’s really a meaningless conversation. I enjoyed watching him. One of my favorite players for sure.
Winfield: “Aside from those 7 seasons when he ranged from above average to a recipient of MVP votes, he wasn’t very good.”
Weird and dismissive assessment.
I never said he wasn’t good. When he was good he was recognized for it. When he wasn’t he was panned for it. How was he underrated (or overrated for that matter) if he was appropriately recognized?
@StudWinfield I’d hope a guy of Carpenter’s caliber would earn more than $100 in his career. $1 million at least.
About five years too late
Seeing as how he made 50+ million the past 5 years, I doubt he would agree with you
Carpenter’s salary over the last 5 years of his career:
2020: $18.5 M
2021: $20.5 M
2022: $1.0M
2023: $6.5M
2024: $5.5M
I think we can all agree it was a really good decision by Carpenter not to retire 5 years ago.
Hammer Matt. Over the course of his 677 plate appearances in 2018, Carpenter did not ground into a single double play.
But does that also mean he wasn’t getting enough ground ball hits that year by not hitting his ground balls hard enough?
What was his median exit velocity on ground balls in 2018, and how did it compare to league average? (Average exit velocity wouldn’t work in the case, as there are too many outliers with bunts and other barely tapped ground balls.)
This could also mean that he got lucky – when he did hit ground balls that could’ve been turned into DPs, there wasn’t anyone on first to double up…
@Welp
I took it from here: calltothepen.com/2018/10/05/st-louis-cardinals-mat…
Definitely a combo of luck/skill/natural tendencies. An interesting fact nonetheless!
Carp was a great Cardinal for many years and was deservedly a fan favorite. Seeing that guy square up doubles and fire up the team was a joy to watch.
He played hard and got every scrap of performance out of the talents he had. Seeing guys like Matt find a way to contribute is part of what I love about the game.
On to the next, Matt, enjoy it and I hope you can come back to the organization in some capacity.
I remember the year he had 199 hits with 3 games left and went 0-12 to end the year. I was so disappointed. Love the guy though and have so many great memories of him with the Cards. The 5 for 5 game with 3 HRs and 2 Doubles vs the Cubs being a highlight. Enjoy retirement Matt.
Cubs fans everywhere: “Thank you!”
Braves legend. Congrats on the great career.
Happy retirement, Matt!
Farewell MCarp, you were fun to watch! Another late round draft pick who became a stud out of pure grit and determination. That lefty stroke had some nice power too. He was a doubles machine for several years including breaking Musial’s single season Cardinal record. Will never forget the epic at bat against Kershaw in the NLCS, changed the whole series. Red jacket being fitted already! Seems like a lock to be hitting coach but sure does not need the money.
Happy retirement Matt.
Hall of Pretty Good. That Yankees stint he had was insane. Congrats on your retirement, Matt!
He was a pain in the Reds butt for years, but I still wish him a happy retirement.
This guy was amazing. Middle of the order hitter for STL for those good handful of years. Definitely an MVP type for that team. To me the power output might have been considered out of the Blue. And was a legit MVP candidate a few of those seasons. 100 mil for his earnings. Great Career.
The way he held the bat with no gloves and purposely tried to harden his hands, was really cool, he did a segment where Alex Rodriguez was interviewing him. Always thought that was badass, congrats to a great career to a heck of a player!
His batting stance was legendary and I’m glad he played for my franchise. Considering his last few years as a Cardinals player weren’t good, he was loved either way. Thank you Matt!!!
Padres legend. Congrats on the great career.
No mention of his batting average with the bases loaded? Also, the time the bases were loaded with a 3-0 count. He’d never swung at a 3-0 pitch until… grand slam.
Master con man
blogs.fangraphs.com/matt-carpenters-big-reveal/
Gritty player who used no batting gloves and played the game hard, one of the toughest outs especially early in his career
His surge in the 2022 season for the Yankees was such a curious and confounding anomaly.
Matt Carpenter lives on in Brendan Donovan
I think Donovan is even better than Carpenter. His bat is coming alive and he’s a better fielder.
Happy retirement Carp! Take the summer off and come back to the organization next spring when the house cleaning is complete.
I think when a guy like Jake Peavy takes the time during the playoffs to tell a young Carpenter how much he likes the way he plays the game summed up Carpenter for me. Some Cardinal fans got bitter mainly because the years he made the most money where his worst years but to me he earned it and I’m not one to get upset at a guy who does everything he feels is right and works hard but it just doesn’t come together. Obviously he never gave up because in his twilight years he had some decent platoon/bench seasons. His last year helped reinforce his Cardinal legacy much like Pujols’ last year(not that Pujols had much to prove).