Reader Ryan gives credence to the Chris Carter Movement via simple, elegant t-shirt. You can, and probably should, order one here:
Tedquarters
Ted Berg
Reader Ryan gives credence to the Chris Carter Movement via simple, elegant t-shirt. You can, and probably should, order one here:
Tedquarters 
Has anyone actually seen this guy play first base so that we can have an idea as to the depth of his defensive deficiencies?
He’s been mashing AAA pitching for years like Garret Jones did before he was freed by the Pirates, and I like his swing from what I saw in spring training. But I’ve never seen him play first, and I know that he has a reputation as being a poor defender. At least Jones was blocked by Justin Moreau rather than Mike Jacobs.
Thanks again, Brian Cashman.
I’ve never seen him play first and there are probably others here more qualified to answer this, but here’s my impression:
He’s probably around Jacobs-level (maybe a little better) at first with the glove, but he also has more versatility to where he can play a corner outfield position.
And even if the Mets think he’s awful defensively, he’s definitely a better pinch-hitting option than Smithtown’s Own Frank Catalanotto.
That’s my impression as well, but it is based on little more than conjecture and surmise.
He’s definitely a more valuable bench player than Jacobs b/c he can play the corner outfield spots, but I’d like to know for certain that he is no worse than Jacobs defensively at first. The Mets’ refusal to give him a chance begs inquiry as to how bad his hands really are at first.
Michkin, one of the commenters at Amazin’ Avenue, put together a little primer on Carter based on his last four years of MiLB data. Don’t know if it’s exactly what you’re looking for but it is a good little crib sheet for information on Carter:
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2010/3/12/1369445/chris-carter-virtu-and-fortuna
That was great, Catsmeat. Thanks. What confounds me is with Murphy’s return inevitable, why not give Carter a shot and see what he can do? Everyone knows what Jacobs can (or can’t) do. Could Carter be worse than a poor-fielding, out machine who is nothing more than your classic “mistake hitter” who thus hits an occasional, meaningless homerun? Maybe, just maybe, they could get lucky with Carter like the Pirates did with Garrett Jones last year.
The way I see it, all Chris Carter can do at this point is build a time machine, go back to 2005, have a really hot month with the bat and then play baseball at a sub-replacement level for the next four seasons in the majors. It’s the only way the Mets will recognize his value.
Seriously, though, it’s just another situation that speaks to how terribly things are run. There is really nothing for this team to gain in playing Jacobs over Carter, because Jacobs is already whatever it is that Mike Jacobs will be as a major-leaguer. Same goes for Catalanatto. Carter is a complete unknown and either (a) works out and provides value; or (b) sucks out loud and goes away. The fact that the team gave in ultimately to the “Jacobs is a veteran and people like him” just shows stupid decision-making at all levels by the Mets.
Carter was blocked by Conor Jackson/Reynolds/Tracy and Kevin Youkillis before being blocked by Jacobs, and since the organization blocking him with Jacobs is a little dumb I think we can probably discount that a bit.
There’s a facebook page too.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102889256414963&v=wall
The other ridiculous thing about blocking him with Jacobs and Cats. Is that Carter was already on the 40, Jacobs and Cats were not, so by choosing them over players already on the 40 we had to expose 2 players to waivers. So on top of poor talent evaluation that’s horrible 40 man roster management.
And now Shawn Bowman is on Toronto. And the clock is inexplicably running on Mejia and Tejada as well.
What sucks is that they are really close to being a good team, but they consistently refuse to make the little moves or to do the little things that would get them over the hump. How much more confident would you be right now if we had Lopez at second instead of Castillo; Piniero in the rotation in lieu of either Perez or Maine; Carter or Davis at first instead of Jacobs; Pagan everyday in center since game 1; and Mejia in the minors?
This pretty much says it all.
FREE CHRIS CARTER!