'Where I Wanted To Be': Inside Matt Carpenter's Decision to Join Rangers

Matt Carpenter turned down guaranteed money from other clubs to come to the Texas Rangers. Here's why.

Chris Halicke | Mar 19, 2022

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Matt Carpenter is getting the chance to revive his career. After becoming one of the more feared hitters in the game during his earlier years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Carpenter's production significantly dropped off each of the past three seasons.

In 2018, Carpenter slashed .257/.374/.523/.897 with a career high 36 home runs and 81 RBI. His OPS dropped to .726 in 2019, then sunk to .640 in the truncated 2020 season. Last year, Carpenter put up the lowest numbers of his career across the board, save for the seven games he played as a rookie in 2011.

The Cardinals declined their $18.5 million option on Carpenter, ending an 11-year run in St. Louis. Given Carpenter's pedigree—three All-Star appearances, one Silver Slugger and a fourth-place finish in the National League MVP voting in 2013—a club was bound to give Carpenter an opportunity.

In fact, Carpenter had guaranteed Major League contracts on the table from other clubs. Instead, he chose to sign a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.

"I've always had an admiration and respect for this club dating back to 2011, obviously because of how great they were. And what they're striving to be right now, I think this is a really good group of guys in this clubhouse," Carpenter said Saturday.

"Chris Young and Jon Daniels, what they've put together, I think there are really talented guys here, and more importantly, really good people. That attracted me, along with the opportunity to potentially play at home. At this point in my career, this is where I wanted to be. I'm thankful that they've given me an opportunity to come in here and try to make it happen."

Carpenter spent the offseason working hard to correct his swing and approach at the plate. He leaned on former NL Central rival Joey Votto, who also went through a multi-year dip in production, but had a resurgence in 2021. While the mechanical changes are detailed in a story by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Carpenter said Votto's grit and approach motivated him to change just as much, if not more so.

"Just the perspective that he was a guy in my shoes," Carpenter said. "He had a couple rough years, and was basically like, 'Look, that's enough. I'm not doing that anymore.' And he changed it. I want to follow in those footsteps. I'd love to prove a lot of people wrong and that I've got a lot left in the tank. Hopefully, I can do that."

Over the last two years, Carpenter described his swing as "east to west" and "rotational" which resulted in too many ground balls to the pull side. Carpenter has spent a lot of hours trying to make it go north to south with the intention of hitting the ball to the middle of the field with good back spin.

When Carpenter arrived at Rangers camp in Surprise, he got to work immediately, jumping into live batting practice and spending significant time in the batting cage with bench coach and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and hitting coach Tim Hyers. Carpenter loves the idea of playing near his home in Fort Worth, but also jumped at the opportunity to work with the Rangers' new coaching tandem.

"I have a lot of respect for both of those guys," Carpenter said. "I think they're really good at what they do. Given their track records and having conversations with them, I think that the work that I've put in over the offseason, this would be a really good fit to continue that work because we're all on the same page. They're preaching a lot of the same stuff that I've been trying to do.

"Those guys are studs. The future is bright here as far as offense goes with what they're teaching."

Donnie Ecker (right), Rangers bench coach and offensive coordinator

Tim Hyers (left), Rangers hitting coach

Ecker's first job as a coach was in player development in the Cardinals organization, and the two established a relationship during Ecker's three years there. Likewise, Ecker is eager to work with Carpenter and had his eye on him from the time he took the job with the Rangers.

"I just always had a loyalty to him and respect factor," Ecker said. "I think he's already shown that he's working on a few adjustments to get back to doing some things to get back to doing what he's done in the past. [He's] a guy who really has a lot of peripherals that make him a really good system player for the offense."

Carpenter's road to a roster spot is unclear. He's on a minor league contract—one that would pay him $2 million on the big-league side—and the Rangers have several players on the roster capable of manning third base. He's also coming late into an already shortened camp. Votto said the road back to success was one of the hardest things he had to do in his career. It could be just as difficult for Carpenter as well.

"Another reason why I wanted to do this was it gave me an opportunity to bet on myself," Carpenter said. "I feel good about where my swing is and the work that I've done. I wanted to come in here and prove it. I didn't want to just be handed a job. This is something that motivates me and puts that chip on my shoulder, to come out here and put the work in and try to make something happen."

Make sure to like 'Inside The Rangers' on Facebook

Published Mar 19, 2022

CHRIS HALICKE