Early Wednesday afternoon, the Cardinals called a 3 p.m. local time press conference. With a few hours between the announcement and the actual press conference, it's a fun time to watch rampant speculation on social media as to what the presser is about. As it turns out it's a contract extension for Matt Carpenter.
The deal is for two years with a vesting option for a third year, the Cardinals announced. The two-year part of the deal is for $39 million, reports Mark Saxon of The Athletic. Saxon further reports the third-year option vests if Carpenter reaches 1,100 plate appearances in 2020-21 combined and would be for $18.5 million.
As a reference point on the vesting option, Carpenter combined for 1,299 plate appearances in 2017-18, though the early-30s are a lot different than mid-30s.
Carpenter, 33, was facing the possibility of free agency this coming offseason and that had to be a pretty daunting feeling with the way the market has gone this last two offseasons. The Cardinals did hold an $18.5 million club option with a $2 million buyout. His new deal grabs that year and more and his vesting option being the exact same figure is likely not a coincidence.
Carpenter is a career Cardinal. They drafted him out of TCU in the 13th round in 2009 and he made his debut in 2011. He rounded into a good player in 2012 and a great one in 2013, finishing fourth in MVP voting. He's now a three-time All-Star and finished ninth in MVP voting last season after a huge surge early in the second half.
He finished 2018 hitting .257/.374/.523 (144 OPS+) with 42 doubles, 36 homers, 81 RBI, 111 runs and 4.9 WAR.
In 11 games this season, he's hitting .214/.320/.381 with a homer, but it would be folly to draw any conclusions, especially given how streaky he can be. He's bound to get white hot at the drop of a proverbial hat.
