Chris

Carter

Carter, 28, has not appeared in a major league game since 2010. After spending time at Triple-A last season, he would have been unlikely to resurface in the majors with the Braves.

It’s a worthy promotion. Carter, who was acquired from the Red Sox as a player to be named later in the Billy Wagner trade, was batting .339/.395/.615 with six homers and 20 RBI with the Bisons. He should provide the Mets with a more powerful left-handed hitting option off the bench than the veteran Frank Catalanotto.

Bay still only has one home run through 144 at-bats this season, but he currently has an 11-game hitting streaking going. Chris Carter, who started in place of Jeff Francoeur for the past two days, will start in left field on Tuesday.

But it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. The slumping Francoeur will bat eighth for just the 15th time in his career. Chris Carter will start in left field with Jason Bay out of the lineup while David Wright will bat cleanup against right-hander Kris Medlen.

Carter is batting .383 in July and has hit half of his 14 homers this month. It’s likely the broken hamate bone he suffered in February was responsible for sapping his power early on. The 24-year-old is back looking like a legitimate option at first base now. Unfortunately, he’s another right-handed hitter, hurting his chances of getting an opportunity in Arizona.

Leave it to the Red Sox to try to turn a seemingly minor deal into a three-way trade. Carter, who turns 25 next month, is batting .328/.385/.531 for Triple-A Tucson. The first baseman is expendable in Arizona, so the Nationals might have a deal in place to get him in return for a pitching prospect. It’s unclear whether the trade has any chance of being completed now or if it will have to wait until October, when waivers will no longer be a factor.

Still unknown is who is going to Arizona. There was a rumor that it might be Jesus Colome, but that isn’t the case. Colome never would have cleared waivers anyway. The Post believes it could be a pitcher at Triple-A Columbus and mentions Arnie Munoz and Winston Abreu. However, we find it hard to believe the Diamondbacks would part with Carter for either. Emiliano Fruto seems like a more realistic choice. If the trade is completed soon. Carter would probably join the Red Sox in September. The 24-year-old left-handed hitter could be a solid platoon first baseman in the majors.

Moving Pena without ever giving him a chance to play regularly is going to make the Red Sox look bad someday, but at least they got back a quality property for him, which comes as a surprise, given that he cleared waivers this month. The 24-year-old Carter was hitting .324/.383/.521 with 18 homers and a 68/50 K/BB ratio in 503 at-bats for Triple-A Tucson. He’s been helped by playing in strong offensive environments in his career, but he still could prove to be a solid platoon first baseman against right-handers. He’s also an option in left field, but not as good of one. The Red Sox will assign him to Triple-A for now, but they should call him up next month.

It was very surprising not to see Carter get a September callup after being acquired in the three-team Wily Mo Pena trade. He’s currently 6-for-21 with two doubles and a triple in Venezuela.

That’s the team calling Carter an outfielder. It’s sort of like terming Rickey Henderson modest or Curt Schilling withdrawn. Diaz cost the Red Sox a 40-man roster spot with his big winter in Hawaii. There wasn’t much chance of the 20-year-old getting taken in the Rule 5 draft based on his 723 OPS in low-A ball last season. Boston’s 40-man roster now stands at 37 players.