On the same day that the A's appear to be calling up Chris Carter, Eric Chavez has told Susan Slusser he is contemplating retirement. There is something "ships passing in the night" about those two announcements coming within hours of one another.
If Carter is indeed finally an Oakland Athletic come tomorrow night's game, he should not be viewed, or played, like "the savior." This means he should not bat #3 or #4 -- let him hit around #6 and then move his way up the lineup over time. It also means Carter should be set up to succeed as much as possible, playing against all LHPs -- such as Luke French (Wednesday's starter) -- and most RHPs such as Doug Fister (Monday's starter), but not necessarily against the league's elite RHPs such as Felix Hernandez (Tuesday's starter).
Where Carter will play (if indeed called up) is murky because not only was OFer Matt Watson hospitalized today with kidney stones, but Daric Barton left the game with shoulder spasms. Also, Safeco Field is so spacious that it may not be the easiest place to debut for a guy who was only really switched from 1B to LF 11 days ago. That being said, Safeco is certainly not the worst place to play LF either, as it is a pretty symmetrical and is absent undue nooks, crannies, or 38 foot high walls.
If Carter is in fact on his way to Seattle, did the A's just get better? We really don't know. Did the A's just get a lot more interesting? Oh yeah.
