When I pulled up Twitter on Friday afternoon, I noticed a post from the St. Louis Cardinals.
As I read the Cardinals had signed Matt Carpenter to a one-year contract, I swear I heard a collective groaning sound from the St. Louis fan base.
The Cardinals added Matt Carpenter to next year’s roster, signing him for the league minimum of $740,000. The roster spot opened a day earlier, when St. Louis released James Naile to the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization.
I understand the frustration from Cardinals’ fans, I guess. Carpenter, who turned 38 years old in November, has only played 113 games in the past two seasons, which doesn’t include a stint with the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate.
Last month, the San Diego Padres traded Carpenter to the Atlanta Braves, who then released him three days later. It wasn’t a good look for a three-time All-Star wanting to stay in the major leagues.
Luckily, St. Louis has been nostalgic lately when it comes to bringing home former Cardinals.
Two years ago, St. Louis signed Albert Pujols to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million, plus incentives. Pujols hit 24 home runs in a part-time role and helped the Cardinals to a playoff appearance.
Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals signed Lance Lynn to a one-year, $11-million contract. No one is expecting a Cy Young-caliber year from Lynn, but if he can find a way to pitch at least 170 innings, it’ll be a good deal.
But this Carpenter signing has drawn plenty of criticism from fans in the first 24 hours of the announcement.
Fans are frustrated because they believe Carpenter is stealing a roster spot from a young prospect. He batted .176 in 76 games last season with just five home runs and a 28 percent strikeout rate.
Why not bring him back as a coach instead of a player?
Here’s why.
First off, don’t worry about Carpenter taking the last spot on a 26-player roster. He’s not going to take at-bats away from players like Nolan Gorman or Masyn Winn. He’s going to be a decent left-handed bat off the bench, fill in at designated hitter periodically and spell Paul Goldschmidt at first base every now and then.
Besides, you don’t want a young prospect to be the last bat off the bench. You would rather have that player get regular at-bats in Triple-A at Memphis, which is a better use of his time.
But most importantly, this is what Carpenter brings to the table: Leadership.
For the first time since 2000, the Cardinals’ roster will not consist of Pujols, Yadier Molina or Adam Wainwright, the franchise’s leaders of the past 23 seasons, leading to 15 playoff appearances and two World Series titles in that span.
Last year, Pujols and Molina were retired, while Wainwright was fighting through aches and pains to reach 200 career wins. The Cardinals finished with a 71-91 record, their worst season since 1995.
With Wainwright aging, I was expecting Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado to step up and be the leaders of the clubhouse. It didn’t quite work out that way.
Both players are expected to be Hall of Famers when it’s all said and done. Instead, they both had down years by their standards, with Goldschmidt hitting .268 with 80 RBI and 25 homers, while Arenado hit .266 and snapped his streak of 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards won.
We’ve seen these two players lead by example on the field year after year, so it seemed like a natural line of progression for them to step up their game and be leaders in the clubhouse last season. It didn’t happen.
That’s where Carpenter comes into the picture.
Sure, he may not have been part of those Cardinals’ World Series teams, but he absorbed a lot from those players through the years. He knows he is coming back to St. Louis for the experience factor, and much like Pujols in 2022, any positive production he provides on the field is a bonus.
It’s time for Goldschmidt and Arenado to step up and be clubhouse leaders, too. After all, that’s what prospective Hall of Fame players are supposed to do.