Carter broke in with Montreal in 1974, and had a good rookie season in 1975, but the Expos also had another talented young catcher in Barry Foote, and kept bouncing Carter to the outfield. Carter slumped in 1976, Dick Williams came in as manager, and stopped this nonsense by making Carter the regular and trading Foote. Carter stayed with Montreal through 1984, then went to the New York Mets where he had his most celebrated stint. He finished with the Giants, Dodgers, and a final year with the Expos. Carter never won an MVP, but finished 2nd in 1980 and in the top ten four times. He never batted .300 for a full season, but showed excellent power and was often used as a cleanup hitter on a number of good teams. His teams made the playoffs three times, and he was a key figure on the Mets' 1986 World Champions, his last excellent year.
Carter is not often ranked this high, but he was an exceptional defensive catcher as well as a top-notch hitter. He ranks with Bench as a hitter and just behind him defensively. He ranks ahead of Yogi Berra defensively, and ahead of Fisk as a hitter.
Carter earned 184.42 rating points.
Carter's stats: .262 average, 324 homers, 1225 RBI, 2092 hits, 3 Gold Gloves. posted by Shawn Weaver at 7:37 AM