The St. Louis Cardinals have locked in another member of their core, extending Matt Carpenter for two more years.
The St. Louis Cardinals have been busy locking in pieces for the future. They have already extended Paul Goldschmidt, keeping their first baseman under control through 2024. With several young pitchers under control for the next few years as well, the Cardinals have been looking to extend their potential window of contention.
They have taken one of those steps on Wednesday, as Matt Carpenter has been signed to a two year extension, with a vesting option for 2022.
Matt Carpenter gets $39 million for ‘20 and ‘21 combined and another $18.5m for ‘22 if he gets 1,100 plate appearances over the first two years, per source.
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) April 10, 2019
The timing of the extension is perfect for Carpenter. He is coming off of a career year, producing a .257/.374/.523 batting line, hitting 36 homers and 42 doubles. Carpenter has been a three time AllStar, led the league in doubles twice, and has displayed an excellent batting eye throughout his career.
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Carpenter is also valuable to the Cardinals due to his defensive versatility. Over his career, he has been a starter for St. Louis at first, second, and third, and has seen some time in the outfield. Right now, he is the Cardinals starting third baseman, but could easily be moved to second or first if something happened to Goldschmidt.
This extension is not without some risk. Carpenter is already 33 years old, just past his hypothetical prime. While the two years are not an extravagant signing, it does go against the trend of locking in younger players, while those older veterans have languished in free agency.
If nothing else, Carpenter can serve as an excellent utility man for the Cardinals towards the end of his deal. With Nolan Gorman destroying minor league pitching and likely to rise rapidly through the system, Carpenter could find himself in that role before the end of his extension.
The St. Louis Cardinals have locked in Matt Carpenter to a two year deal with a vesting option for 2022. While there is a degree of risk with the deal, it is well worth the gamble for the Cardinals.