Matt Carpenter signs deal with Cardinals

The last time Matt Carpenter spent part of his offseason working with former Cardinals teammate Matt Holiday, the lefty brought life back to his MLB career by hitting 15 home runs in 47 games with the Yankees in 2022.

With Carpenter again working with Holiday this winter and showing signs of the bat speed and exit velocity that made him a three-time National League All-Star earlier in his career, the Cardinals were willing to take a chance on the 38-year-old — the big-time slugger could call upon His magic is at Busch Stadium again.

Carpenter, who was part of the Cardinals' most recent deep playoff run during his 11 seasons with the club, signed with St. Louis on Friday. Carpenter, who agreed to a one-year, $740,000 deal, starred for the Cardinals from 2011-2021 before spending the past two seasons with the Yankees and Padres. After a dismal 2023 season in which he hit .176 over 76 games with San Diego, Carpenter was traded to the Braves before being released.

“[The workouts] “With Holiday is something we had an interest in and something we wanted to learn from,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “When players are training, you can hear some rumors, and ‘What did you see?’ that kind of thing. But we were also able to look at some hard data and come up with the idea of ​​‘Has his bat speed returned and has he shown the ability to increase his exit velocity?’” They both seemed As if they are moving in the right direction.

“And the one gift that Matt Carpenter has always had is that he knows how to see a baseball and he can still walk. That's still a great skill, and we're encouraged by where he's swinging it.”

The Cardinals created a spot on their 40-man roster early Friday morning when they transferred right-hander James Neal to the KIA Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization for cash considerations.

In recent days, Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and Mozeliak have publicly stated they are looking to add another reliever. However, the club instead turned to Carpenter, who would give the Cards a veteran left-handed bat off the bench and occasionally at the designated hitter position. He will likely be in a battle with Alec Burleson and Luken Baker for the final spot on the 26-man roster.

Mozeliak said the club underestimated the value of losing the veteran presence of players like Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina after the 2022 season, and those voids may have played into last season's collapse. He felt too much of the leadership responsibilities fell to stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, and Carpenter could help move them forward. Mozeliak also stated that manager Oliver Marmol was eager to add Carpenter because of the leadership qualities he would bring to the club.

“I feel like last year, [Goldschmidt and Arenado] “We're left having to take the lion's share of that leadership, and it's important to be able to spread that everywhere,” Mozeliak said. “As we looked at who that guy could be, Karp completely understands the Cardinal way of doing things and understands the group of players that we have because he's not too far behind. And given our veteran presence now, I think he'll be a great addition from a leadership standpoint.”

Carpenter, 38, was an NL All-Star in 2013, '14 and '16 and received NL MVP votes in 2013, '15 and '18 as a member of the Cardinals. He was a member of the Cards' last World Series team (2013) and appeared in seven games as a starter during St. Louis' 2011 World Series season.

Carpenter has a career slash line of .260/.367/.451 in 1,452 MLB games with 175 home runs and 644 RBIs. He led the Majors in runs (126) and hits (199) in 2013, and his MLB-best 55 doubles that season were third-most of any Cardinals outfielder.

Mozeliak didn't deny that nostalgia played a role in signing Carpenter, and he hopes one of the best players in the team's recent history can retire as a Cardinal — whether that's after the 2024 season or beyond.

“Obviously he will play for us and I can't predict what the world will look like in 2025, but we'll see,” Mozeliak said. “But obviously he had a very strong career when he was with us before that.”