St. Louis Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter and pitcher Carlos Martinez each had their options declined by the club. This was a foregone conclusion in each case, as Carpenter has slashed just .176/.313/.291 with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate since the start of 2020, and Martinez was responsible for a 6.95 ERA in the same time frame. They will be paid buyouts of $2 million and $500 thousand dollars, respectively. While it's likely that each will latch on somewhere in 2022, neither needs to be ...