MLB Free Agency 2017: Top 18 players left on the market

11. Chris Carter, 1B/DH

Carter was a surprising non-tender by the Milwaukee Brewers before the Winter Meetings. Apparently hitting 41 home runs to lead the National League while playing terrible defense and striking out over 200 times was not enough for the Brewers who would have owed Carter a nice raise in arbitration. The Brew Crew may have tried to trade Carter, but knowing that the non-tender could be in play would have made it difficult to find a deal.

Over his seven years in the big leagues, Carter has made it abundantly clear that he is very good at two things — hitting home runs and striking out. He has 150 home runs, which account for 30 percent of his big-league hits, and 875 strikeouts, which account for close to 40 percent of his official at-bats.

In a different era, Carter’s 41 home runs would have been enough to find him a job next season. With the shift to more analytically-driven processes in the front offices around the league, Carter is seen as a one-dimensional player who is a liability in the field. He will likely be limited to playing out his career as a DH, possibly in a platoon role.

His addition to the free-agent class of 2017 has slowed down the market for the likes of Mark Trumbo and Edwin Encarnacion. While the strikeouts may be ugly, Carter still finished 2016 with an OPS of .821, which compares nicely to Trumbo’s .850. Carter actually beat Trumbo out in OBP by five points, drawing 25 more walks. The Orioles put a four-year offer on the table to keep Trumbo, but perhaps they could fill more than one hole with their available funds this winter by signing Carter for a much lower price.