MLB Player News

Carpenter became a free agent Thursday after the Cardinals declined his 2022 team option, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Carpenter spent 11 seasons in St. Louis, hitting .262/.368/.449 with 155 homers. He's been a below-average hitter for three straight years and has failed to clear the Mendoza Line in the last two, however, so it's unsurprising to see the team doesn't want to bring him back for his age-36 campaign. Even if the universal designated hitter arrives and opens up 15 more jobs for position players in the National League, Carpenter may still find it tough to secure a major-league contract this winter.

The Phillies declined McCutchen's $15 million club option for the 2022 season, making him an unrestricted free agent, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The club option includes a $3 million buyout which Philadelphia will pay in order to secure the $12 million in savings. McCutchen appeared in 144 games during 2021 and hit .222/.334/.444 with 27 home runs, 24 doubles, 80 RBI, 78 runs and six stolen bases while posting the highest strikeout rate (23.0 percent) of his 13-year career.

Soler went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run, two runs, a walk and a strikeout in Tuesday's 7-0 win over the Astros in Game 6 of the World Series.

Soler put Atlanta on the board in the top of the third inning Tuesday with a mammoth home run to left field, and the team clinched its first World Series title since 1995. The 29-year-old's performance against Houston earned him World Series MVP honors, as he hit .300 with three home runs, a double, six RBI and four runs across the last six games.

Soler hit a go-ahead pinch-hit homer in Game 4 of the World Series against the Astros.

Dansby Swanson tied the game at two with a one-out solo shot off Cristian Javier in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jorge Soler came off the bench to hit for Tyler Matzek one batter later and launched a solo homer of his own just past Yordan Alvarez and the left-field fence, giving Atlanta the lead. He's now hitting .240/.345/.600 with a pair of homers in nine games this postseason.

Soler is not in the lineup for Game 4 of the World Series against the Astros on Saturday.

Soler was in the lineup for the first three games, twice at designated hitter and then Friday in right field for Game 3, the first of the series at Truist Park in Atlanta. He will be replaced in right by Joc Pederson on Saturday, but expect Soler to be back in the field again for Game 5 with lefty Framber Valdez slated to start for the Astros. Soler can return to DH if and when the series returns to Houston.

Pederson is not in the lineup for Game 3 of the World Series versus the Astros on Friday.

The 29-year-old started the first two games of the series in right field with Jorge Soler serving as the designated hitter, and Soler will take over in right now that Atlanta is back home. Pederson is 1-for-8 with three strikeouts against Houston so far but otherwise has a .909 OPS with three homers and nine RBI in the playoffs this year.

Alvarez went 1-for-3 with a triple, a run, a walk and a strikeout in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to Atlanta in Game 1 of the World Series.

Alvarez closed out the ALCS with five extra-base hits across the final two games, and his power surge continued with his triple to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday. Since the start of the postseason, the 24-year-old has slashed .432/.532/.811 with two home runs, two triples, four doubles, 12 runs and nine RBI.

Soler went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two strikeouts in Tuesday's 6-2 win over the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series.

Soler had come off the bench in each of the final two games of the NLCS against the Dodgers, but he served as the designated hitter and hit at the top of the order to begin the World Series. The 29-year-old hit a homer to lead off the game, his first home run of the postseason. He's a strong candidate to continue serving as the designated hitter at Minute Maid Park, but he'll likely have to share playing time in Atlanta's crowded outfield once the team returns to Truist Park.

Soler isn't starting Game 6 of the NLCS against the Dodgers on Saturday.

Soler appeared off the bench in Thursday's Game 5 loss and went 0-for-1 with a strikeout. Joc Pederson will start in right field and bat sixth.

Alvarez went 4-for-4 with a triple, two doubles, two runs and an RBI in Friday's 5-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 6 of the ALCS.

Alvarez came within a home run of hitting for the cycle in Friday's matchup, and his three extra-base hits sparked Houston's offense against the Red Sox. Heading into the World Series, the 24-year-old has gone 9-for-13 with a home run, a triple, three doubles, five runs and five RBI across the last three games.