5 potential landing spots for Chris Carter
The Milwaukee Brewers have elected to non-tender 2016 NL home-run leader Chris Carter. Where will he land?
In another era, Chris Carter would have been viewed as one of the finest first basemen in all of Major League Baseball. He hit 41 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016 to lead the National League, and has 131 over the past four seasons. Unfortunately for Carter, he strikes out at an alarming rate while playing terrible defense. That led to the Brewers declining to tender the arbitration-eligible slugger a contract, making him a free agent.
Carter is essentially a one-trick pony; he hits home runs and not much else. He has struck out in over a third of his career plate appearances. Defensively, Carter has been worth -19 runs at first base using the defensive runs saved metric. All of that power, and keep in mind that Carter did have an above-average season in 2016 based on the advanced stats OPS+ and wRC+, will help him find a home for the 2017 season.
The burly, lumbering slugger who strikes out a ton and plays poor defense is a dying breed in Major League Baseball. Pedro Alvarez suffered a similar fate with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was forced into a one-year platoon role with the Baltimore Orioles. Alvarez previously led the NL in home runs in 2013, and has never come close to matching Carter’s prolific strikeout pace.
Cheap power is cheap power at the end of the day, and Carter should be able to scrounge up a job for next season, especially in a platoon role. Here are the five teams that could serve as a landing spot for the first baseman.
5. Texas Rangers
A return to the state of Texas is a longshot for Carter, and the Rangers are only an option if they strike out on every other DH on their wish list. Before Texas turns to Carter, they will make a run at Carlos Beltran, Edwin Encarnacion, or even Jose Bautista. All those players will have considerable interest from the rest of the league.
The Rangers should have the funds to retain Beltran or bring in a better free-agent bat, but if they somehow miss out, Carter could make sense in Texas. Last season, Rangers DHs combined for a .704 OPS, finishing ahead of only the Houston Astros. They were also second-to-last in slugging percentage at .392. If the Rangers hope to stay ahead of the Astros, who are having a busy offseason, they must get more from the DH slot in their lineup.
The struggles and eventual retirement of Prince Fielder left the Rangers in a bind last season and is what ultimately led them to give up one of their top pitching prospects to rent Beltran for a few months. Beltran will be 40 early next season, and the Rangers may shy away from giving a multi-year deal to a player of his age. The Rangers may also be smart enough to stay out of a bidding war for Bautista and Encarnacion, two more sluggers who are getting up in years. If that’s the case, why not fall back on Carter, who is sure to hit more than his fair share of home runs in Arlington. The OBP and strikeout numbers won’t be pretty for him, but Carter is a lock to easily surpass that paltry slugging percentage the Rangers got from their designated hitters in 2016.