I think we need to hash out a collective best guess/range of how good we think Mike Carp really is. (Maybe in a new thread?) If, as some people think, he's a legitimate option as a bat in the middle of the order, then this roster is much, much closer to complete. He's an Arb1 player, under team control through 2016, so if this is the guy, he'd be quite the steal.
Towards that end, here's the Mike Carp story. Drafted out of high school in the ninth round by the Mets in 2004, Carp showed a ton of power in the low minors — 36 HR in 950 PA across two seasons in A and A+ as a 19 and 20 year old. Promoted in 2007 to AA Binghamton, he was sidelined by his first injury, a broken hand/finger, which also sapped his power when he returned. But in 2008, as a 22 year old in AA, he put up his best full season: 566 PA, .299/.403/.471/.874, with 17 HR and 29 doubles, 79 walks and 88 strikeouts.
In the offseason, he was dealt to Seattle as part of a fairly elaborate three-team deal. In the midst of a successful year in AAA, he was called up to be a bat of the bench for an interleague road trip, and then again in September. His early MLB numbers were excellent. In 65 PA, he put up a .315/.415/.463/.878 line. He got two further cups of coffee in 2010, putting up a .512 OPS in 41 PA. He continued to hit well in AAA.
2011 was a breakout year for Carp, and the first year in which he got meaningful time as a starter in MLB. After posting a 1.000+ first-half OPS in Tacoma, Carp was called up in June to play DH and LF, as the season wore on he took plate appearances at first from the disappointing Justin Smoak. He started out fast, raking through mid-August to peak at a .926 OPS, before slumping/running out of gas in September and finishing with .791.
Still, great season, and the Mariners rewarded him by pencilling him in as the 2012 Opening Day starter in LF — and sprained his shoulder diving for a Kurt Suzuki double in the fourth inning. DL'd until May, he came back… and sucked, hitting .213/.312/.341 in 189 PA. Pretty grim. Out of options, the Mariner's DFA'd him after the season, and Boston added him because he was younger and better than Lyle Overbay as a bench bat/backup 1B.
You all know the story from there: the power came back in a big way in 2013. If what we saw is the real Mike Carp, then he should be the starting first baseman. If he hadn't played at all in 2012 — say, if he'd been DL'd for the whole season — we'd see a really impressive progression towards what will be his age 28 season: .791 at 25, .885 at 27. But with the poor 2012, he's hard to project. My own view is that he's past the shoulder injury, and is a strong candidate to post an .850 OPS next season as a starter, but I wouldn't be averse to adding another 1b option if any interesting options become available.
Granted, those Boston numbers were mostly against RHP, but Carp doesn't have a meaningful career split. He's a below average defender at 1b by UZR, but in only about 850 innings. As an outfielder, he's almost average as a first baseman — the samples are still small, but he puts huge negative numbers by UZR in the outfield. Manny-type numbers.
What say you, SoSH?