SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have signed infielder/outfielder Matt Carpenter to a one-year contract through the 2023 season, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller announced today. The agreement includes a player option for the 2024 season.

Carpenter, 37, hit .305 (39-for-128) in 47 games with the New York Yankees in 2022 with nine doubles, 15 home runs, 19 walks, 37 RBI, and 28 runs scored. After beginning the season with Triple-A Round Rock in the Texas Rangers organization, he was released on May 19 and signed a Major League contract with the Yankees on May 26. He proceeded to become the first player in Yankee history to hit 14 homers within his first 29 hits and just the third player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to do so with any team, joining Mark McGwire (17 HR in 1997 with St. Louis) and Derek Dietrich (16 HR in 2019 with Cincinnati). The left-handed batter hit .333 (11-for-33) against left-handed pitching and .295 (28-for-95) vs. righties, and among all players in 2022 with at least 150 plate appearances overall, Carpenter led the big leagues in OPS (1.138) and slugging percentage (.727), just ahead of former teammate and the AL MVP award winner, Aaron Judge (posted a 1.111 OPS and .686 SLG). He was the only Yankee other than Judge to win an AL Player of the Week honor (won for the week of July 11-17 after hitting .400 in a five-game span), and he appeared defensively in right field (12 games), first base (five games), left field (three games), third base (two games), and made 16 starts as the designated hitter.

Over parts of 12 Major League seasons, the three-time All-Star has posted a .263 average (1,192-for-4,531) with a .369 on-base percentage, 310 doubles, 28 triples, 170 home runs, 613 RBI, 780 runs scored, and 718 walks in 1,376 career games between the St. Louis Cardinals (2011-21) and Yankees (2022). The native of Galveston, Tex. won the NL Sliver Slugger award at second base in 2013 and finished fourth in NL MVP voting that year. His 24 leadoff home runs with the Cardinals are the most in franchise history, and his 25 leadoff home runs overall are tied for the sixth-most among active players. The 6-4, 210-pound veteran has made seven Postseason appearances in his career (2012-15, 2019-20 & ‘22) with a .228 clip (37-for-170) and 24 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple, six home runs, 21 RBI and 17 walks in 56 career playoff games.