Chris Carter and the new york yankees are no more, ending one of the worst tenures in recent team history. The first baseman was brought in during the last offseason to bring some pop to a young lineup. Instead, he has been the one sore spot in a lineup that has developed in spite of his play, not because of it. The team will call up another player in his stead and look to the trade market for a permanent replacement for the rest of the season.
Carter designated for assignment
The writing has been on the wall for Carter for some time now. Among all of the team's position players, he has been the most problematic since the start of the season.
He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts during Friday night's victory over the Texas Rangers, his last game with the team. Immediately after the game, the Yankees designated him for assignment and called up Tyler Austin from Triple-A; he's expected to start at first base on Saturday afternoon.
Carter has always been a bit of a "feast or famine" hitter. He can jack home runs at any given moment, but is much more likely to have a demoralizing strikeout. He is hitting .204 this season with eight home runs and a whopping 70 strikeouts, which consists of almost half of his at-bats. He hit 41 home runs last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, but free agency interest was still tepid because of his other problems at the plate.
His performance this season has not validated a $3.5 million, one-year deal he signed with the Yankees.
Yankees look to improve weakness
By replacing Carter with Austin, the Yankees hope to temporarily quiet down their issues at first base. Austin is no star, but he can hit a better average than Carter did. Really, he'll just be keeping the seat warm for Greg Bird, who is currently in the process of trying to return from a bruised right ankle, though he just required a cortisone shot that will sideline him for a few days.
This being the Yankees, it would not surprise anyone to see an outside option or two considered. There won't be many options available in free agency, but the team will surely be buyers before next month's trade deadline. Two of the names being tossed around on the trade market right now are Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Adams and New York Mets first baseman Lucas Duda. No matter what the team decides to do, the response to the late night move on Twitter suggested that fans were more than thrilled to see Carter leave the team.
