The Oakland A’s called up outfielder Chris Carter this afternoon. He will make his major league debut tonight in Seattle, batting seventh and playing left field.
The 23-year-old Carter was hitting .262 with 27 homeruns and 89 RBI for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento. He has long exhibited ridiculous power, with 145 career homeruns, including 25-39-28-27 the past four seasons. He also strikes out a lot (676 in 2471 at-bats).
Carter was the Texas League’s Most Valuable Player last season, when he hit .337 with 24 homeruns and 101 RBI before being promoted to Sacramento. His performance also earned him the inaugural Bus Leagues Player of the Year award.
A fun fact about Carter: he was once traded twice in eleven days. The White Sox dealt him to the Diamondbacks for Carlos Quentin, straight up, on December 3, 2007. Then, on December 14, he came to the A’s as part of a group of six players (including Brett Anderson and Carlos Gonzalez) in a deal that sent Dan Haren to Arizona.
(Here’s something about Haren that intrigues me: he’s 29 years old and has been traded three times for a total of eleven players. Among the players teams have received for him are Mark Mulder, Carter, Anderson, Gonzalez, Joe Saunders, and Tyler Skaggs.)
