One of the key pieces of the St. Louis Cardinals’ playoff success over the last decade is calling it a career.
Matt Carpenter has decided to retire after 14 big league seasons. He played 12 seasons for the Cardinals and was most recently on their roster in 2024.
Carpenter joined his ex-teammate Scott Linebrink on the Get in the Game podcast to announce the decision:
Three-time @MLB All-Star Matt Carpenter just announced his retirement on Sports Spectrum’s Get in the Game podcast with former teammate Scott Linebrink.
“I had quite a thrill being able to don the St. Louis Cardinals logo for many years.” – @MattCarp13 pic.twitter.com/wDLxUYmVA7
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) May 14, 2025
Carpenter was drafted by the Cardinals in the 13th round way back in 2009 after a standout college career at TCU. It only took him two years to make his MLB debut, getting called up to the show in May of 2011. He didn’t play a huge role in their World Series run that year, but Carpenter proceeded to become a fixture on the roster in the seasons to come.
He was named an All-Star in 2013, 2014, and 2016 with the Cardinals and hit .261 lifetime with St. Louis across 12 seasons. He also spent one year with the San Diego Padres and another with the New York Yankees.
He finishes his MLB career with over 1,200 hits, 179 homers, 659 RBIs, and a lifetime .259 average. Carpenter played in 59 games last season with the Cardinals, batting .234 with four long balls and 15 RBIs.
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St. Louis also paid their respects to Carpenter on social media following the announcement:
After 14 seasons in the Major Leagues, including 12 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Matt Carpenter has announced his retirement.
Congratulations on a great career, Matt! Whether it was on the field or in the community, you represented our city with class. pic.twitter.com/FgTiTdaPf4
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 14, 2025
Carpenter was hoping to sign with another ball club in 2025 as a free agent, but he couldn’t secure a deal. The veteran made sure to praise the city of St. Louis and the Cardinals organization for accepting him as one of their own:
“As many people know, St. Louis is a special place that I hold very dear to my heart. The fans there, the organization, from top to bottom, it’s a very unique, special place to get to play baseball,” Carpenter told Linebrink. “I’m just so honored and blessed that I got to wear that uniform for so many years.”
Best of luck to Carpenter in retirement. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him coaching in some capacity in the near future.