Tyler Austin breaks foot, making Yankees already look wise for Chris Carter addition

The Yankees first-base depth absorbs a blow thanks to a recent signing

Not too long before spring training started, the Yankees made a late addition in the form of slugger Chris Carter on a one-year, $3 million deal. The club was already set with what appeared to be a platoon of Greg Bird and Tyler Austin at first base along with Matt Holliday at designated hitter. 

Still, depth never hurts. That sentiment rang true in light of the news the Yankees received on Friday:

Tyler Austin has small break in foot and will be in a boot for 3 weeks and no baseball activity for 6 weeks #Yankees

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 17, 2017

Six weeks from Friday is two days before the Yankees open the season against the Rays. Obviously this means Austin will open the season on the disabled list. Even in a best-case scenario, he’ll play games in extended spring training and then the minors on rehab assignment before having a shot to join the big club. The best bet is he misses all of April before he’s considered for the Yankees. 

Austin, 25, hit .241/.300/.458 (99 OPS+) with five homers and 12 RBI in just 90 plate appearances last year. In his 57 Triple-A games last year, he hit .323/.415/.637 with 24 doubles and 13 home runs. 

The talented Bird is only 24, but he also missed all of 2016 after having shoulder surgery last spring. So leaving him alone at first base would have been far from ideal. That’s where the Carter cushion comes in, as Bird swings the bat lefty while Carter hits righty.

In 644 plate appearances for the Brewers last season, Carter hit .222/.321/.499 with 27 doubles, an NL-best 41 home runs and 94 RBI. He also led the NL in strikeouts. His career profile says he’ll hit for a low average while striking out a lot, taking walks enough to give him a marginal OBP and hit lots of home runs.