UPDATE: Welp, shows you what I know. The Yankees have signed Carter.
9:29 AM: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers checked in on free agent slugger Chris Carter. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Yankees are “keeping tabs” on him as well.
The Dodgers report seems odd given that they have Adrian Gonzalez, the NL has no DH, Carter has not played the outfield on anything approaching a regular basis for years and, even when he did, he wasn’t good at it. Add on the fact that the Dodgers are already over the luxury tax threshold, meaning that they’d pay a 50% tax on his salary, and their interest in Carter makes even less sense.
The Yankees are likewise an odd potential destination for Carter. The luxury tax considerations are the same. They signed Matt Holliday to be their DH. Their first base situation is devoted to the future, with Greg Bird and/or Tyler Austin covering it. As Crasnick notes, Carter could be insurance, but the value of such insurance to a team is likely far less than what Carter would agree to sign for.
It’s getting close to spring training and Carter, the reigning NL home run champ, is unemployed. I suspect that, rather than serious interest in him on the part of the Dodgers and Yankees, this is an instance in which his agent, Dave Stewart, is attempting to create the appearance of teams having interest in him.
