ST. LOUIS – We’re nearing the final countdown of the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals regular season and quite possibly the final countdown of three longtime Cardinal players in St. Louis uniforms.
The Cardinals, 76-75 entering Wednesday, close out their final homestand of the 2024 regular season with seven games through Sunday, followed by a west coast road trip to close the campaign. Barring a miracle, the team will miss postseason for a second straight year.
Paul Goldschmidt, Lance Lynn and Matt Carpenter could all become free agents at the season’s end. Goldschmidt and Carpenter will be free agents on expiring contracts unless the Cardinals extend either on a new deal. St. Louis has a club option for Lynn in 2025.
All three have spent at least six seasons with the Cardinals, with Carpenter and Lynn returning for second stints ahead of the season.
Goldschmidt, the National League’s Most Valuable Player of 2022, recently turned 37 years old. He is on the final year of a five-year, $140 million contract, the richest the Cardinals have awarded to a player in franchise history.
Goldschmidt is on pace to play 150 times for the fifth time in his Cardinals career and has hit at least 20 home runs in each of those seasons. He is also admired for his defensive abilities at first base and preparations throughout the course of the season. However, he is on pace for his personal worsts in batting average, RBIs and strikeouts as a Cardinals, prompting concerns that age may be catching up to him.
While Goldschmidt could make sense to bring back if the Cardinals envision on competing, it may be tough to justify with younger options able to cover first base in Alec Burleson and Luken Baker. His possible departure would also create more firm roster spots for young sluggers Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker.
Goldschmidt is eligible for a qualifying offer, through which the Cardinals could bring him back on a one-year deal or attain an extra draft pick if he declines it and signs elsewhere this winter. He previously told St. Louis media that he intends to play at the MLB level beyond this season, but where exactly remains to be determined.
Lynn took the mound on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates for possibly his last start as a St. Louis Cardinal, though would line up to possibly pitch Sunday’s home finale and a road game versus the San Francisco Giants if he opts to do so.
Lynn has enjoyed somewhat of a bounceback season after a rough 2023 campaign, currently holding a 7-4 record with a 3.84 ERA over 23 starts. Though a right knee injury in early August sidelined him for much of the second half. Also 37 years old, like Goldschmidt, Lynn proved he still has some gas in the tank left on Tuesday, cruising to six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts against the Pirates.
Some questions about Lynn’s durability remain beyond this year, in part due to his latest injury. He is averaging only around five innings per start this season, while his career average is closer to six. And his average fastball velocity, a key strength in his past, barely ranks among the top 150 qualified pitchers this season.
After Tuesday’s win, Lynn also seemed to express that he is unsure about what’s ahead in his future for Major League Baseball. “I never want to stop pitching. But I know that there is going to become a time when that’s going to happen. I haven’t really thought about it, but I know that it’s part of getting older,” he said via Bally Sports Midwest.
Lastly, but not least, comes Matt Carpenter. An offensive stalwart and versatile infielder for much of the 2010s in St. Louis, Carpenter returned on a one-year contract to primarily serve as a mentor for young players and take at-bats in favorable split situations.
Though not the flashiest of returns, Carpenter has had some success with timely hits, most notably a pinch-hit, game-tying knock that proved pivotal in a Cardinals primetime comeback against the rival Chicago Cubs in May. Future building blocks, including Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson, both credit Carpenter for various feedback throughout the season in helping them make strides offensively.
A .236 batting average, four home runs and 15 RBI, even in a reduced role, still leaves some left to be desired, but the 2024 season has been mostly positive in spirits for Carpenter, now 38 with 14 years of MLB experience.
That said, St. Louis may be in a pinch to justify bringing him back next season as a player. For one, the team’s cast of hitters is lefty-heavy and was deficient in right-handed hitting production this year. And as previously mentioned, the Cardinals will likely want to find more consistent MLB opportunities for Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and others. The Cardinals, nor Carpenter, haven’t made it super obvious in media reports on what his future with the franchise and at the MLB level may hold after this season.
The Cardinals play two more games against the Pittsburgh Pirates through Thursday, followed by a three-game home series with the Cleveland Guardians this weekend. Then, the Cardinals wrap up the regular season with road matchups against the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants through Sept. 29.
