Houston Astros and Chris Carter avoid arbitration with $4.175M contract

Christ Carter and the Astros have agreed to a one year $4.175M deal and avoid arbitration, according to Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press.

Carter, AKA Trogdor, hit 37 home runs for the Astros last season, which was a career high and lead the team. He was one of the top three offensive contributors for the team. He made $510K in his career year at the plate. Carter was acquired from the Oakland Athletics along with Brad Peacock and Max Stassi for current teammate Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriquez. Over his career Carter Trogdor has been an above average offensive player, though his strikeouts can be frustrating at times, he's hit 66 home runs for the Astros in two season.

ZiPS, create by Dan Szymborski who we recently had on our podcast, projects Carter to provide much of the same for the Astros next season. According to ZiPS, Carter is expected to hit home runs int 30 range, given that he gets 553 plate appearances next season.