Twins Acquire Chris Carter

[yarnivek1972]

Pop quiz: who has a higher career OPS, Robbie Grossman or Chris Carter?

If you want to compare the two, it might be better to compare OPS+.

 

It tells a different story.

[Rosterman]

Carter or Vargas.

 

Are the Twins worried about Sano at DH? can Morrison handle first?

 

Is it time for Mauer to quit because of concussion fears>

 

Interesting pickup, but, yes, doesn't speak well for Vargas...who isn't doing much at AAA, sadly.

 

[notoriousgod71]

All he does catch touchdowns.

[Thrylos]

 

Mauer and Sano are both iffy right now. Carter is hitting 250ish and has almost twice as many HR as anyone in the Twins organization (yes, ithey're in the International League, I know). With Hughes' DFA, there was a 40-man spot open. Why not roll the dice in case he comes in handy? Costs nothing but a few dollars.

 

(Edit: Not taking a 40-man spot, so even less of a "cost" to take a look at him IMO)

 

There is no downside here. Totally agree. 

 

(Other than the International League part.  He is playing in one of my favorite ballparks to watch a AAA ball game, for the former Twins' affiliate Salt Lake Bees of the PCL.)

[USAFChief]

 

If you want to compare the two, it might be better to compare OPS+.

It tells a different story.

Carter 108, Grossman 100.

[yarnivek1972]

Carter 108, Grossman 100.

Yes, but you originally asked who had the higher raw OPS. That is substantially more one sided, with the other guy having the edge.

[USAFChief]

 

Yes, but you originally asked who had the higher raw OPS. That is substantially more one sided, with the other guy having the edge.

Carter .768

Grossman .723

[Danchat]

As an AAA flier, sure, he'll probably hit better than Vargas is right now. On the MLB roster, though? I'll pass, he looked cooked last year and there's plenty of reasons why he hasn't resurfaced in the majors since the Yankees axed him. I'll reconsider if he's mashing in AAA.

[yarnivek1972]

Carter .768

Grossman .723

I literally have no idea what I saw now. But I swear when I looked it up earlier, Grossman had like almost .100 higher OPS. BUT, then it is past my bedtime...

[The Wise One]

 

A RH bench bat with power? Works for me. Better than the current roster construction anyway.

They could do better, but to this point have done worse.

a history of power is history not necessarily the present tense. .  AAA results  are  not MLB equivalents. .  You have to be able to make contact to hit a home run. That gets to be his biggest problem.He managed to hit 8 HR last year in the majors, but provide nothing else in a lineup that he would have been well protected in. He did miss a lot of balls.  Whatever he was a couple years ago is likely gone. Consider him AAA power to help where Vargas is not.,

[jokin]

 

AAA? Whatever. But he's not a MLB hitter.

 

Not a major league hitter? Perhaps he's completely lost whatever he had, never to rediscover it, but consider:

 

He's currently ranked 4th overall in the PCL in ISO @ .345 and is one off the league lead in HRs with 13.

 

He was admittedly not good in 2017 for the Yankees, but he has a .253 ISO from 2012 to 2016, which would lead the Twins in 2018. He hit 147 HRs during that time span... far more than anyone on the  Twins. (By contrast, Brian Dozier leads the Twins over those years with 117).

 

We all know about his "horrible" K% (@ 33% from '12-'16)... but that would place him only 3rd worst on the 2018 Twins, ahead of Sano and Castro, but just behind Byron Buxton at 31%. His OPS+ would rank him 3rd on the Twins behind Rosario and Escobar.

 

The Twins still have some 50 AL Central games vs. three of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball. Seems like it might be worth finding out if he's got somewhere within himself anything close to his 2012-16 prime left for maybe 100 RH PT/bench bat ABs to find out.

 

Not saying there's even a one in three chance that it will work out successfully... but, until something better comes along, little harm done.

 

[jokin]

 

Since April 25, these are the Home Runs hit by RH batter for the Twins; 

 

Garver - 1

Dozier - 3

Escobar - 1

Wilson - 1

 

That SAYS IT all. 

 

FIFY

[ThejacKmp]

I think we're all missing the real point here. The Twins now have Chris Carter and Jake Reed in AAA. Maybe Randy Moss always wanted to play baseball?

[Otto von Ballpark]

You mean you think he's better than Grossman? That's an awfully optimistic expectation.

Maybe not. For all the K's and low AVG, Carter's career wRC+ is 109. Grossman's is 102. Even for his Twins career only, Grossman is 109.

 

But is Carter cooked? He did post a 73 wRC+ last year, but in only 208 PA. Grossman is only about a 80 wRC+ over his last 300 PA or so.

 

Now, it appears Carter plays 1B about as well as Grossman plays OF, but ideally neither one should see the field much. And with Grossman's salary and inability to refuse an outright assignment, we could probably swap them using just 1 roster spot and keeping Grossman in AAA for insurance, if we want.

[Doctor Wu]

 

Maybe not. For all the K's and low AVG, Carter's career wRC+ is 109. Grossman's is 102. Even for his Twins career only, Grossman is 109.

But is Carter cooked? He did post a 73 wRC+ last year, but in only 208 PA. Grossman is only about a 80 wRC+ over his last 300 PA or so.

Now, it appears Carter plays 1B about as well as Grossman plays OF, but ideally neither one should see the field much. And with Grossman's salary and inability to refuse an outright assignment, we could probably swap them using just 1 roster spot and keeping Grossman in AAA for insurance, if we want.

Serious question: if you are ranking them for their ability to field and play first base, which one is better: Carter or Morrison?

[Twodogs]

Not a major league hitter? Perhaps he's completely lost whatever he had, never to rediscover it, but consider:

 

He's currently ranked 4th overall in the PCL in ISO @ .345 and is one off the league lead in HRs with 13.

 

He was admittedly not good in 2017 for the Yankees, but he has a .253 ISO from 2012 to 2016, which would lead the Twins in 2018. He hit 147 HRs during that time span... far more than anyone on the Twins. (By contrast, Brian Dozier leads the Twins over those years with 117).

 

We all know about his "horrible" K% (@ 33% from '12-'16)... but that would place him only 3rd worst on the 2018 Twins, ahead of Sano and Castro, but just behind Byron Buxton at 31%. His OPS+ would rank him 3rd on the Twins behind Rosario and Escobar.

 

The Twins still have some 50 AL Central games vs. three of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball. Seems like it might be worth finding out if he's got somewhere within himself anything close to his 2012-16 prime left for maybe 100 RH PT/bench bat ABs to find out.

 

Not saying there's even a one in three chance that it will work out successfully... but, until something better comes along, little harm done.

The PCL is notoriously known to be an extremely friendly hitting league. When the Twins AAA team was is the PCL it seemed like we had the next murderers row coming up, every year. But who care if they give him a shot at AAA?? I don't think he will pan out. Dang I wonder how Byueng ho Park is doing these days???

 

 

[lukeduke1980]

Maybe this is a challenge to Sano - if you don't learn some discipline at the plate you'll turn into Chris Carter

[nicksaviking]

 

a history of power is history not necessarily the present tense. .  AAA results  are  not MLB equivalents. .  You have to be able to make contact to hit a home run. That gets to be his biggest problem.He managed to hit 8 HR last year in the majors, but provide nothing else in a lineup that he would have been well protected in. He did miss a lot of balls.  Whatever he was a couple years ago is likely gone. Consider him AAA power to help where Vargas is not.,

 

When the Twins are down one in the 9th with one out and Adrianza and Wilson are due up, I'll take Chris Carter for a shot to tie up the game over Robbie Grossman's shot at drawing a walk.

 

And if a base on balls is someone's thing and Grossman's ability to work a count really floats their boat, Carter isn't too shabby at drawing walks either with a career 11.5% BB rate.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't really get this move but whatever, I don't care much either. If the org feels they see something in Carter and want to let him sit in Rochester until they feel a need for a RHB, whatever.

 

I don't get too worked up about the 25th man on the roster so I really don't get worked up about the 41st man on the roster.

[Number3]

Bring Carter up asap and send Mauer home for the season so he can enjoy the last year of his contract in style. Sano is probably a lost cause as well. By the time Polanco returns hopefully Buxton will at least find a way to be productive. Get Santana back in the rotation and hope that Lynn has found something. Win 4 of the 7 but no fewer than 3 of the upcoming games against the Indians. Don't let anyone get between Twins and Indians (Gardenhire proves again that he can't win at Target and he hates second place). Season should be fun. Finish the sweep today. Big start for Gibson since he was off last start. He must stay consistent.

[gil4]

 

Pop quiz: who has a higher career OPS, Robbie Grossman or Chris Carter?

 

 

If you want to compare the two, it might be better to compare OPS+.

It tells a different story.

 

It tells about the same story, actually.  Grossman was good two years ago, average last year, and horrible this year.  Carter was horrible last year, average in 2015, and above average in 2012-2014 and 2016. 

 

WAR tells a similar story.  Both are adequate subs based on decent oWAR and terrible dWAR.  Carter's dWAR is worse than Grossman's, if you can imagine that possibility.  Carter is almost 3 years older than Grossman, so the career-ending cliff is probably closer and it might already be behind him.

 

For the record, I failed the pop quiz.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Serious question: if you are ranking them for their ability to field and play first base, which one is better: Carter or Morrison?

I haven't really seen much of either of them, but by the metrics, I'd have to guess Morrison. Basically league average defender at 1B for his career by DRS and UZR, while Carter is about 4-5 runs worse per season by those metrics. Although that's only about half a win over a full season, so maybe in small doses it wouldn't much matter. (Although half a win could be the same drop-off from Mauer to Morrison...)

[Otto von Ballpark]

FWIW, it looks like 1B and DH at Rochester this season have been covered by Vargas (.605 OPS, 80 wRC+) and Brock Stassi (.630 OPS, 86 wRC+).

 

Even adjusting for the PCL, Carter has a 130 wRC+ at AAA this year. So he should be an upgrade for Rochester, at the very least, while the Twins can continue to re-evaluate their need for a DH/1B/bench bat at the MLB level.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

FWIW, it looks like 1B and DH at Rochester this season have been covered by Vargas (.605 OPS, 80 wRC+) and Brock Stassi (.630 OPS, 86 wRC+).

 

Even adjusting for the PCL, Carter has a 130 wRC+ at AAA this year. So he should be an upgrade for Rochester, at the very least, while the Twins can continue to re-evaluate their need for a DH/1B/bench bat at the MLB level.

Yeah, it's the kind of move that shores up organizational (and potentially MLB) depth but likely won't amount to anything when all is said and done.

 

But if Carter has a new lease on life, the Twins could use one Toronto Colabello-esque season from him in 2018.

 

And that's why it wasn't a bad deal, but probably a deal that won't move the needle.

[Doctor Wu]

Anyone regretting that the Twins didn't try and pick up Bautista after the Braves released him this week? Would he be a better or worse fit than Carter? Joey Bats hit two homers in his very brief stay with the Braves this month but couldn't hit his weight. But it was strange that they were playing him at third base most of the time.

[Rosterman]

 

The PCL is notoriously known to be an extremely friendly hitting league. When the Twins AAA team was is the PCL it seemed like we had the next murderers row coming up, every year. But who care if they give him a shot at AAA?? I don't think he will pan out. Dang I wonder how Byueng ho Park is doing these days???

Mr. Park has played 19 games with a .290 average. Five dingers. 18BB/15K.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Anyone regretting that the Twins didn't try and pick up Bautista after the Braves released him this week? Would he be a better or worse fit than Carter? Joey Bats hit two homers in his very brief stay with the Braves this month but couldn't hit his weight. But it was strange that they were playing him at third base most of the time.

Nope. Carter is the better move here. Bautista suited up for the Mets that evening. Carter isn't even on the 40-man roster.

[nicksaviking]

 

Anyone regretting that the Twins didn't try and pick up Bautista after the Braves released him this week? Would he be a better or worse fit than Carter? Joey Bats hit two homers in his very brief stay with the Braves this month but couldn't hit his weight. But it was strange that they were playing him at third base most of the time.

 

I've always had an affinity for Bautista. So I probably would have provided some undeserved and poorly placed enthusiasm had they signed him.

 

At least the Twins can keep Carter in the minors, which odds are is exactly where he'll stay all year. The Mets have to keep Bautista on the 25-man roster. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out that the Twins had offered Bautista a MiLB deal.

[USAFChief]

If Mauer is out longer than 10 days, Morrison is at first. There are DH ABs open, and you might see Carter suck some of those up.

 

One of LaMarre/Cave goes back to AAA, Grossman goes back to primarily spelling corner OFers and pinch hitting.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

FWIW, it looks like 1B and DH at Rochester this season have been covered by Vargas (.605 OPS, 80 wRC+) and Brock Stassi (.630 OPS, 86 wRC+).

 

Even adjusting for the PCL, Carter has a 130 wRC+ at AAA this year. So he should be an upgrade for Rochester, at the very least, while the Twins can continue to re-evaluate their need for a DH/1B/bench bat at the MLB level.

is there a site/table/conversion chart or something to adjust between leagues? Did you calculate yourself?