Matt Carpenter Signs Contract Extension With St. Louis Cardinals

On Monday afternoon the St. Louis Cardinals signed third baseman Matt Carpenter to a two-year contract extension worth $39 million with a vesting option for 2022. The vesting option is worth $18.5 million. The $18.5 million was the option on Carpenter's six-year contract worth $52 million that he signed on March 6, 2014. It vests if Carpenter reaches 1,100 plate appearances over the first two seasons. Carpenter, 33, has been with the Cardinals since 2011.

Overall, Carpenter has played 9 in the in the MLB. He's played 1,031 games with 660 runs, 1,007 hits, 268 doubles, 25 triples, 134 home runs, 488 rbi's, 19 stolen bases, 585 walks, and a .273 batting average. Carpenter has been an All-Star three times (2013, 2014, 2016). Carpenter won a Silver Slugger Award in 2013. In 2013, Carpenter had a career best .318 batting average with a career high 126 runs scored, a career high 199 hits, and a career high 55 doubles. Before that happened, Carpenter had 55 doubles, the most by a left-handed hitter in franchise history belonged to Stan Musial from 1953 with 53 doubles. Last season Carpenter his a career high 36 home runs, with 81 rbi's.

An interesting thing about Matt Carpenter is that he's one of the best leadoff hitters in the MLB and he doesn't have speed. Coming into the 2019 season, since 2016 Carpenter's OBP (on base percentage) is .382. That OBP ranks 13th best. Since Carpenter started leading off full-time in 2013, has a .391 OBP. His slugging percentage is .486. He has a OPS of .877.

Carpenter has made a nice career since being drafted by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the June draft in 2009. Not many late round draft picks do well. It's a win for both sides to keep Carpenter around. Carpenter loves St. Louis and loves putting on the Cardinals uniform. He can retire as a Cardinal. This also gives time for prospects to develop in the Cardinals minors (Nolan Gorman, Elehuris Montero, Malcom Nunez). 

Jay Bouwmeester Signs Extension With St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have signed veteran defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a one-year contract extension worth $3.25 million. Bouwmeester, 35, a few months ago looked like his career might be finished. Bouwmeester had dealt with a hip injury in 2017-2018 and ended up needing season ending surgery. He started 2018-2019 slow, but he ended up playing some of his best hockey in a long time. That's because Bouwmeester was finally healthy. Hip injuries can be hard to comeback from.

Bouwmeester ended up playing 78 games, the most games in played since he played 81 in 2016-2017. He had 3 goals with 14 assists, and 17 points. That's best point total since 2015-2016 when he had 19 points. Bouwmeester has helped mentor teammate Colton Parayko.

Bouwmeester is also nominated for an award. He's nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is given to the player who "best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." One player from each team is nominated for the award and then given to the winner in June at the NHL Awards. That's after it's narrowed down to three finalists.

Overall, Bouwmeester has played 16 seasons in the NHL. He's played 1,184 games with 87 goals, 328 assists, 415 points, and is a -23. Since joining the Blues, Bouwmeester is a plus 42.

It's a good contract for both sides and it doesn't hurt the Blues at all. Bouwmeester earned it too. At times you reward your players for doing well. Bouwmeester also loves playing in St. Louis. You want guys who want to be here and help a team. Bouwmeester is one of those players. Even though he got lots of hate by fans, but the truth is he wasn't really healthy. Bouwmeester himself was upset about his play. It's nice to see Bouwmeester finally healthy. He can still play 21+ minutes a night. That's bargain at his new salary.