A veteran of 14 MLB seasons, Carpenter was open to continuing his career in 2025 as just lately as this previous September. That was following a season with the Cardinals the place he battled accidents and struck out at a 32.5 p.c clip however nonetheless produced a roughly common 95 wRC+ throughout 157 plate appearances in a part-time position. That kind of manufacturing was sufficient to make Carpenter a strong bench piece, although with the Cardinals’ pivot towards offering younger gamers extra alternatives this yr, a reunion between the 39-year-old and his longtime membership wasn’t within the playing cards.
As Carpenter talked about, he was sporting Cardinal purple for many of his profession. The Playing cards chosen him within the thirteenth spherical of the 2009 draft. He made it to the massive leagues in 2011, the yr of the membership’s most up-to-date World Collection win, however he was a footnote in that season. He was chosen to the roster in June and optioned again to the minors after a seven-game cup of espresso.
His main league profession started in earnest in 2012. As a 26-year-old rookie that yr, Carpenter took to hitting within the majors virtually immediately. He hit a powerful .294/.365/.463 in 114 video games whereas splitting time between first base, second base, third base, and each outfield corners. That present of versatility was sufficient to earn Carpenter a sixth-place end in Rookie of the Yr voting even supposing he had but to generate the kind of energy he would later in his profession, clubbing simply six homers in 340 journeys to the plate. He additionally hit .286/.412/.571 in playoff video games, although the Playing cards had been felled by the Giants within the NLCS.
He took a step ahead in 2013 and had arguably his greatest season. He virtually doubled his energy output, attending to 11 dwelling runs. He walked at a ten p.c clip and solely struck out 13.7 p.c of the time. That led to a .318/.392/.481 slash and 146 wRC+. He was chosen to the All-Star workforce for the primary time. FanGraphs credit him with 7.2 wins above substitute for that season, his private greatest by a superb margin. He completed fourth in Nationwide League Most Beneficial Participant voting. Carpenter didn’t carry out particularly nicely within the postseason that yr, hitting .217/.263/.290, however the Playing cards made it so far as the World Collection, dropping to the Purple Sox in six video games.
The Playing cards then locked him up on an extension which might pay him $52M over the 2014 to 2019 seasons and preserve him in St. Louis into his mid-30s. Over the remainder of the last decade, his manufacturing shifted barely, with a bit extra energy however a bit much less on-base capacity. The mixture was roughly related although, making him a really helpful participant as he bounced across the infield. From 2015-18, he hit between 21 and 36 dwelling runs in every season, totaling 108 lengthy balls in that four-year stretch. He slashed a mixed .260/.376/.497 for that span, resulting in a 135 wRC+.
In April of 2019, as Carpenter was coming into the ultimate assured yr of his deal, he and the Playing cards agreed to another extension. This one would pay him $39M over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Nonetheless, that in the end proved to be a misstep for the membership, as Carpenter’s manufacturing declined over these subsequent few years. His wRC+ completed at 96 in 2019, then 85 within the shortened 2020 marketing campaign, earlier than going all the best way right down to 68 in 2021.
The Playing cards might have retained Carpenter for 2022 by way of an $18.5M membership choice, however along with his declining outcomes, the $2M buyout was the straightforward name. That despatched him to free company for the primary time in his profession, forward of his age-36 season.
