ST. LOUIS — Matt Carpenter's time may have come to an end for the Cardinals, but he's made sure he won't forget the special moments he had in St. Louis.
The Cardinals opted not to pick up Carpenter's option for 2022, and he and the club have made their intentions known to officially part ways.
Carpenter wrote a heartfelt message to Cardinals fans in the Players' Tribune on Monday, thanking them for supporting him throughout his career.
"Every time I stepped into that box, with the birds on the bat stitched across my chest, I was reminded of what it meant to be a Cardinal. I could close my eyes and see all the greats who put on this jersey before me. I cherished that feeling. I cherished it all the way until the end," Carpenter wrote in the Players' Tribune.
Carpenter has only known the Cardinals organization since he became a Major League player. The team took him in the 13th round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of TCU.
Carpenter said in his article that had the Cardinals not drafted him, his baseball career would have likely ended there.
The Galveston, Texas, native spent 10 full seasons in St. Louis becoming a 3-time All-Star, 2013 Silver Slugger and playing at times at an MVP-caliber level.
"No matter where we go next, St. Louis is and always will be home.
I’ve tried to soak up these last few months as best as I could. I knew the end might be coming, and I wanted to really feel every last moment I had as a Card. The things that had become monotonous, like the pregame stretch or batting practice, I tried to pretend it was my first ball game again. I looked around the stadium as much as I could, taking mental pictures at every step along the way. Man... just thinking about what an honor this has been.
Just thinking about what an honor it’s been to have represented this city." Carpenter wrote.
"Thank you to our ownership, to our front office, to every single worker at Busch Stadium: You guys really make it the best home field in the world, and the best organization in all of sports. And to Cardinal Nation: Y’all are unmatched. The love you showed, not only in St. Louis, but wherever we went … incredible. Really incredible. Thank you. We shared it all together — the postseason, the curtain calls, the walkoffs. We even shared the salsa.
We shared a lot of incredible moments together. I’ll remember all of them.
And I’ll remember the feeling I had every time I put on the Cardinal jersey: gratitude.
I love you, St. Louis."
Click here to read Carpenter's entire article in the Players' Tribune.