By Jordan Long
The New York Yankees have their new first baseman, agreeing to a contract with Chris Carter. The deal is one-year worth $3 million. The contract is pending him passing a physical.
Carter is entering his 7th MLB season. The New York Yankees are his 4th team. Carter suited up for the Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros, and Milwaukee Brewers. Last season, he hit .222 with 41 home runs and 94 RBI’s. His 41 home runs tied Nolan Arenado for the most home runs hit in the National League. The Brewers decided to non-tender him and let Carter become a free agent.
The Yankees were looking to add a veteran at first base after Mark Teixeira retired following last season. The Yankees have two inexperienced first baseman on the roster in Tyler Austin and Greg Bird. Austin played in 31 games at the Major League level. Bird appeared in 46 games in his career. Carter has more experience at the Major League level than Austin and Bird. That knowledge could help him land a starting job with the Yankees.
The downside of this deal is how many errors Carter has at first, a total of 11 last season. The Brewers couldn’t trust him to be able to catch a ball thrown by his teammates. The Yankees may have to work with him so those errors go down.
Carter is a decent hitter who can get hits to drive in runs. He can also whack the long ball. The only problem with his approach at the plate is he swings at pitches out of the zone. Those pitches are easy strikeouts for the opposing team. Carter struck out 206 times last season. That is far too many. The Yankees must help him at the plate so that he doesn’t go after pitches that are balls.
On paper this is a deal that adds depth to the first base position for the New York Yankees. This will put pressure on Austin and Bird to play well in spring training to earn the everyday first baseman job. If they fail, Carter will be able to earn that spot.
What do you think of the New York Yankees adding Chris Carter?
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