Should the Marlins explore signing Chris Carter?

At the non-tender deadline on Wedensday, the Houston Astros decided to part ways with slugging first baseman Chris Carter. After a season of struggles, the team decided better of the idea of bringing Carter back, allowing the veteran first baseman to test the free agent waters. With the Marlins still unsure about Justin Bour, could the Marlins explore the possibility of bringing in Carter?

After being acquired by the Astros in 2013, Carter wasted no time getting to work with his new ballclub. Carter smashed 27 home runs in 2012 and established himself as the starting first baseman in Houston. His encore act, a 37 home run 2014 campaign, showing encouraging signs going into the 2015 season. But, in 2015 Carter fell from grace batting a putrid .199 and creating only 101 runs.

Like most sluggers, Chris Carter struck out a whole lot. With a 32.8 K%, Carter whiffed more often than not when he stepped into the batter’s box. After a horrible playoff performance matched with the underachieving numbers, Carter was out of town.

Another downside of Carter is his 9.8 BB%. Like most sluggers, he didn’t take a whole lot of walks in 2015, he was a feast or famine hitter. Either a home run, a long fly out, or a strikeout but not much else in between.

So what’s in it for the Marlins? With the fences at Marlins Park moving in, adding another slugger couldn’t possibly hurt. Also, the Marlins are not 100% sure if Justin Bour is their guy, they could possibly pursue another first baseman. If he can recapture his 37 home run form, he could become a valuable power asset to showcase alongside Giancarlo Stanton.

With all signs pointing to the Fish staying far away from former Pirates star Pedro Alvarez, Carter is one of the strongest options at first baseman on the market, and should come fairly affordable. With the low risk yet high reward nature of this move, it might be time for the Fish to take a leap of faith and take shot on this slugger.