*Photo from the San Francisco Chronicle*
One of the resurgence stories in baseball is heading to Southern California. The San Diego Padres and IF/OF Matt Carpenter have agreed to a one year, $6.5 million deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Padres have confirmed.
Carpenter will make $3.5 million in 2023, on top of a $3 million signing bonus. He also has incentives in his deal and a $5.5 million player option for 2024. The incentives concern plate appearances, and if he exercises his option and reaches all incentives, he makes $21 million over two years.
Last season was an excellent tenure for Carpenter with the New York Yankees before his regular season ended due to injury. He recorded a .305 batting average, .412 on base percentage, and .825 OPS, blasting 15 home runs with 37 RBI's in a short 47 game regular season for Carpenter.
Carpenter said of his success with the Yankees that "I went on a journey last offseason to kind of redefine myself and refine my swing. I followed up with a really good season. I’m very thankful for the people that helped me along the way, and I’m looking forward to building on that in San Diego."
With the Padres, Carpenter will become their super utility player. He is capable of getting reps at DH, while also playing first base and both corner outfield spots. He can also play second and 3rd base, serving as backups to Ha-Seong Kim and Manny Machado in that respect. It seems likely that DH and outfield would be his clearest path to playing time.
Asked about his versatility, he said that "I pride myself on being a guy that can move around, I can play lots of positions, I can help us out in many facets. But I think my M.O. is just that competitive at-bat. Whenever my name’s called on, whatever my role is for that day, give that at-bat and be a staple for our club."
Carpenter has 12 seasons under his belt, 11 of which were spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. In that time, he has a .263 batting average, .456 slugging percentage, and .369 on base percentage, adding 170 home runs and 613 RBI's in 1,376 games. He also has a .218 batting average with 21 RBI's and 6 home runs in 56 playoff games.
Right now, Carpenter joins Seth Lugo, Pedro Severino, and Xander Bogaerts as free agent signings for the Padres, in addition to the re-signings of Robert Suarez and Nick Martinez.
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