Details of Anthony Carter’s deal with Chicago Cubs reported

After the signing of former San Diego Padres right-hander Anthony Carter was reported last week, the details of his contract have now followed, thanks to the same man who broke the signing itself – Steve Adams of MLBTR.

Carter, 28, is a career Minor Leaguer who has spent the last four years at the Triple-A level with the affiliates of the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and the aforementioned Padres. However, unlike some other acquisitions made by the Cubs front office tandem of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer, despite the fact the righty has spent time in Boston and San Diego (both locations Epstein and Hoyer led) – his work in the respective locations came after the pair joined Chicago.

Last season, with El-Paso, Carter struggled, making just three appearances spanning three innings – pitching to a 6.00 earned run average. However, in 2013, with the Red Sox’ Triple-A club in Pawtucket, he showed signs of promise as a reliever, finishing 40 games and notching 24 saves in 52 appearances. In 62 1/3 innings of work that year, Carter averaged a career-best 11.4 strikeouts-per-nine to go along with a 3.43 strikeout-to-walk mark – indicating he may have a future role as a bullpen arm after spending the first half of his Minor League career as a starter.

The White Sox signed the right-hander in the 26th round of the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft and he struggled in his first professional season in 2006, before bouncing back nicely in 2007 and 2008, pitching to 3.93 and 3.99 earned run averages, respectively. Although he has not seen the big league level of yet, working with the Cubs’ coaching staff could help turn things around for Carter, as we have seen so many times under pitching coach Chris Bosio in recent years.

Heading into 2015, it appears Carter will open the year with Triple-A Iowa given the high volume of right-handed relief options already vying for spots in the Cubs’ bullpen, including Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm, Neil Ramirez, Brian Schlitter, Jason Motte, Edwin Jackson, Blake Parker and Dan Straily – to name a few.

However, if he manages to break camp with the big league club, it will almost undoubtedly be as a reliever – especially because of how crowded the pitching staff is already, including a rotation that features the likes of Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Jason Hammel and some combination of Felix Doubront, Jacob Turner, Travis Wood and Tsuyoshi Wada.

Next: Cubs sign outfielder Adron Chambers