How much is 41 bombs worth?

[Edwards Kings]

"According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Yankees have signed free agent slugger Chris Carter to a one-year, $3 million contract.
The deal includes incentives based on plate appearances. And so, Carter goes from tying for the NL lead in homers to non-tendered to settling for a bargain basement deal. The Yankees were happy to take advantage of his underwhelming market. The addition gives the Yankees some additional flexibility in how they utilize Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, and even Matt Holliday. Carter slugged 41 homers with the Brewers last season while batting .222/.321/.499 over 160 games. He now finds himself in another great situation for power, though his fantasy impact could be limited if he mostly plays against southpaws. Carter will be arbitration-eligible again next winter, though the Yankees would have the option of non-tendering him, which has been his fate for the past two winters. "

Wow! $3.0M...a lot to me, but to Carter? Boone freakin' middle reliever Logan just signed for nearly twice as much...unbelievable. Take more AB from Bird, Austin, and Holliday....

[Rainiers]

Suprising development to me as well. But it might make sense for the Yankees the more I think about it. $3 million worth of insurance on the health of injury-prone Matt Holliday and to a lessor extent on Greg Bird's shoulder. Unless one of those guys gets hurt, Carter in my mind will be primarily a bench player. The guy who could get dinged the most from a fantasy prospective is Tyler Austin who likely starts the season at AAA and playing full time until the Yanks need him on the big club.

But wowser. Only $3 million for the home run leader. An affordable bench player. How the game has changed.

[Edwards Kings]

So we have the "Mendoza Line", generally viewed in terms of where a players BA falls (above or below 0.200 though Mendoza himself was a career 0.215 hitter...could really toss that lumber). In my mind at least we have a new standard..."Carter Country". A contract so beneath a players ability that one might remark..."Man, that is like Carter Country!" Reusing a phrase most common to the political era from 1976 to 1980 and from a bad, bad sitcom.

Hardly minimum wage, but in comparison to what other players are making?

This FA season, the following player got contracts that were equal to or more (and sometimes multiple years) than Carters:

PLAYER POS Age Team YRS Annually

Jason Castro C 29 Twins 3 $8,166,667
Jon Jay LF 31 Cubs 1 $8,000,000
R.A. Dickey SP 42 Braves 1 $8,000,000
Joaquin Benoit RP 39 Phillies 1 $7,500,000
Charlie Morton SP 33 Astros 2 $7,000,000
Mike Dunn RP 31 Rockies 3 $6,333,333
Steve Pearce 1B 33 Blue Jays 2 $6,250,000
Junichi Tazawa RP 30 Marlins 2 $6,000,000
Derek Holland SP 30 White Sox 1 $6,000,000
Koji Uehara RP 41 Cubs 1 $6,000,000
Jesse Chavez RP 33 Angels 1 $5,750,000
Daniel Hudson SP 29 Pirates 2 $5,500,000
Sean Rodriguez SS 31 Braves 2 $5,500,000
Marc Rzepczynski RP 31 Mariners 2 $5,500,000
Matt Joyce RF 32 Athletics 2 $5,500,000
Boone Logan RP 32 Indians 1 $5,500,000
Neftali Feliz RP 28 Brewers 1 $5,350,000
Eric Thames LF 30 Brewers 3 $5,333,333
Trevor Plouffe 3B 30 Athletics 1 $5,250,000
Jeff Locke RP 29 Marlins 1 $3,025,000
Andres Blanco 3B 32 Phillies 1 $3,000,000