From the New Hampshire Union-Leader via Redbird Rants, Chris Carpenter will be “taking a break” from his duties at a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Cardinals.
In a January 2014 report by the Post-Dispatch:
Mozeliak announced this morning that they came to an agreement on a position, one that would not be in uniform. Carpenter is interested in learning about various aspects of the front office and could be involved in the scouting process, Mozeliak said. The details and the title of the job are being written by him now.
In May of 2014, Carpenter listed his St. Louis home for sale. 2 months later, he also put his Florida home on the market.
It was hard to find confirmation that Carpenter’s role with the organization had been clearly defined at any point from January until his statements this past weekend at the ‘Granite State Baseball Dinner’ in Manchester New Hampshire.
Maybe it had been, maybe it hadn’t been.
Either way, Carp will not be employed by the Cardinals for the first time since 2002.
‘Special Assistant to the GM’ is a baseball tradition for players transitioning into retirement. Especially well paid players that may or may not find jumping into the daily grind of a baseball season in the minors worth their while.
It’s a paid-internship for retirees. Some people find their calling right away in ‘post playing days’ baseball and see a clear path for their future. Others, like Carp, decide they need to step back and be totally away from the game for a while before deciding the next steps… or if they even want to be in baseball as a non-player.
It seems pretty obvious that Carp has finally accepted that his MLB playing days are really – honestly – over and is making moves to that end.
Everyone here wishes him well. And if he decides to come back to the Cardinals at any point, I’m hopeful the team would welcome him.
Photo: Gray Matter
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