With less than a week to go until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the baseball hot stove season is far from over. The reason: Potential impact players are still available.
And the Yankees are keeping an eye on one in particular.
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Yankees are monitoring the market for Chris Carter, last year’s National League home run champion.
The #Yankees are keeping tabs on Chris Carter and have had discussions with his rep, Dave Stewart, sources say.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) February 7, 2017
Carter, 30, hit 41 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016, but was non-tendered before the hot stove season took off. With a glut of one-dimensional, all-slug, no all-around game players (Ryan Howard, Pedro Alvarez) available, Carter hasn’t landed a deal.
Recently, a report surfaced suggesting Carter could play in Japan in 2017.
Despite Carter’s limitations (though he can “play” first base and left field), New York’s interest makes sense for two reasons.
1. The market could be causing a bargain.
Carter isn’t perfect. In fact, he’s far from it. Along with 41 home runs last season, the right-handed hitter struck out 206 times. But if Carter is really thinking about Japan, he may be willing to take a very small and below-market value deal to head to Yankees spring training.
Over the last four years, Carter has hit 131 home runs and taken 259 walks. Here’s the complete list of players with at least 125 home runs and 250 walks since the start of 2013: Chris Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, David Ortiz, Mike Trout, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera and Carter.
That’s basically a list of all-stars, MVP candidates and Carter.
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2. Insurance and lefty-mashing ability.
Ideally, the Yankees can platoon Greg Bird and Tyler Austin at first base, creating a powerful lefty-righty combo. At designated hitter, Matt Holiday, if healthy, can provide even more thump.
But if one of those plans goes awry, Carter could help. Last season, Carter posted an .875 OPS vs. left-handed pitching.
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Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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