Second Base

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

There's no report of Carter having an opt-out, so it's doubtful he has one. More likely, he saw 110 games worth of starts at 1B are up for grabs, and only Luis Valbuena standing in his way. Valbuena hit under .200 last year. Plus the environment in Salt Lake could lead to absolutely monstrous numbers. Plus DH is manned by a 38 year old coming off a year with a sub .300 OBP and an unproven Japanese kid who is trying to do something that hasn't been done in a century.
Circumstantially, Carter couldn't be in a better situation. There likely isn't an opt out.

Almost certainly. He looked great in AA last year, and many prospects skip AAA and go to the majors because in many ways AA can be better than AAA. 
There doesn't appear to be a need to rush him. 49 games wasn't a tiny sample size, but I don't think it would hurt him to spend another 50 games in AA, followed by another 50 in AAA, and a promotion to the major leagues for August and September, particularly if he's hitting for power and getting on base.

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

"Challenge accepted."
- Albert Pujols

I guess I'm not really concerned about Parker because of our depth. I mean if he sucks, it wouldn't be surprising, but also not a problem, Jim Johnson can step into the 9th. And if he's done, again, not surprising and not a problem, Bedrock. If he can't find it, still not surprised, Middleton can step in. And if that doesn't work.....
Krol, Lamb, Alvarez, Noe Ramirez, Felix Pena, Eduardo Paredes, Vicente Campos, Jake Jewell...
We don't have a ton of proven relievers, but we have a metric ton of potentially really good relievers. And that's fine, because relievers are so volatile in the first place, I'd rather have upside than a bunch of known crappy pitchers.
I mean we could even throw JC Ramirez into the closer role.
There are a lot of ways this can go right.

Another product of Alfredo Ulloa signing, who is responsible for Hector Yan, Raider Uceta, Adderlin Santana, Daniel Ozoria, Julio Garcia, Julio De La Cruz, Stiward Aquino...... and Roberto Baldoquin

i'm more worried that you're following keith olbermann on twitter.

Chris Kusiolek‏ @CaliKusiolek 22m22 minutes ago More Trent Deveaux has put together some unbelievably mature and advanced ABs past couple days. Body looks amazing. Tremendous player

Upton will finish in the Top 10 in MVP voting 

Kole will have his best year yet offensively
Richards will be healthy all season long
Albert will hit less than 10 home runs this season, while being relatively healthy
Trout will hit 40 homers and have a .450 OBP
Ohtani will be a solid #2 after a bit of a slow start
 

I could see that, but I also think that if Upton's year is so great, Pujols may frequently find the bases empty because the runners have already been driven in and RBI situations may be less common. 

Well I'll say this....Eppler knows that system better than anyone in baseball. If he doesn't put a claim in on cave, or attempt to trade for him, then I think that would tell us quite a bit about Cave.
I trust Eppler when it comes to prospect evaluation. He's traded ones at their high value point (the Simmons trade), he's chosen not to trade others who have since become much more valuable (Barria, Hermosillo), he's traded for others who ended up doing really well (Alex Meyer before injury), he signed upside international guys when given the opportunity (Maitan, Deveaux) he's drafted very well (pretty much all of them). 
And I think most importantly, he's built the farm up. He hasn't treated it as a means to an end in acquiring minimal MLB talent like his predecessor (Yency Almonte for Gordon Beckham. Michael Clevinger for Vinnie Pestano....Dipoto was a freakin idiot).

An Eppler special!

Ohtani is the greatest prospect ever. The next Noah Syndergaard and Bryce Harper....all in one.
That's what you guys were looking for, right?

Typo.