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Matt Carpenter spurns guaranteed offers to ‘prove himself’ with hometown Rangers

The Fort Worth resident signed minor league deal Saturday.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Fort Worth’s Matt Carpenter wanted to be with the Rangers badly enough that he was willing to spurn a couple of guaranteed major league deals to sign a minor league deal, he said Saturday after his first workout.

Carpenter, who had a .176/.313/.291/.605 slash line over the last two years in St. Louis, would receive a base salary of $2 million if he makes the major league roster.

He was eager enough to get started that he got on the field Saturday even before his signing was official, stayed in the batting cages for an extra hour to work with instructors Donnie Ecker and Tim Hyers before Sunday’s exhibition with Milwaukee and plans to get at-bats in an intrasquad game Sunday, the Rangers’ scheduled day off.

Trying to “reinvent his career,” Carpenter spent the winter traveling across the country to meet with slugger Joey Votto, hitting instructor Craig Wallenback and others.

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So why the Rangers?

Well, he had a previous relationship with Ecker, for one. For another, he thought being at home would provide some level of comfort. The Rangers may not be able to give him much of a look in this abbreviated spring, but if he’s willing to go to Round Rock or Frisco for a couple of weeks, it might give them more time to sort out third base.

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“I’ve always had an affinity for this club, dating back to, 2011,” said Carpenter, who was with St. Louis in 2011.

Excuse us. An affinity?

“Let me rephrase that,” he said with a laugh. “An admiration and respect for this organization. To potentially live at home and play at home, at this point in my career, this is where I wanted to be.

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“I wanted the opportunity to bet on myself,” he added. “I didn’t want to be handed a job. I want to prove it to somebody. This is something that motivates me. It puts that chip on my shoulder to come out here and put the work in and try to make something happen. So, yeah, there’s, there was a lot of things that went into it.”

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