The Diamondbacks and outfielder Corbin Carroll have agreed to an eight-year extension worth at least $111 million in guaranteed money. The deal also contains a $28 million club option for the 2031 season, and an additional $20 million is available in escalators spanning the 2029-31 seasons. Carroll is represented by CAA Sports.
The deal begins with a $5 million signing bonus for Carroll and a $1 million salary this season. Carroll will then earn $3 million in 2024, $5 million in 2025, $10 million in 2026, $12 million in 2027, $14 million in 2028, and then $28 million in each of the 2029 seasons. and 2030. The $28 million club option for 2031 contains a $5 million buyout. The $20 million escalation clauses are mostly tied to Carroll’s finishes in the awards vote during the deal.
The extension will buy out the remainder of Carroll’s club-controlled years, as well as at least two of Carroll’s free-agent years, depending on whether or not the option is exercised. Since Carroll is only 22, he can still become a free agent at 31, even if the D’Backs choose this option year.
It’s an aggressive move by Arizona to lock in the future face of their franchise, as Carroll is the centerpiece of what the D’backs hope will be a new wave of young talent on their big league team. The team also made history with this deal, as it is the biggest contract ever signed for a player with less than 100 days of service in the Major League (and no experience in foreign leagues), eclipsing comfortably the $70 million that Atlanta donated. Michael Harris Last year.
Carroll made his debut for the Diamondbacks last season and hit .260/.330/.500 with four homers in 115 plate appearances. He also provided plenty of value on the field, earning five over-par strikeouts in his small amount of work in the outfield. Crucially, Carroll dropped 15 board appearances to reach 130 last season, meaning he’ll still be eligible for Rookie of the Year honors in 2023.
The 16th overall pick, Carroll quickly made a name for himself as an exciting young prospect coming through the Diamondbacks system. He hit .299/.409/.487 in his first year of pro ball as a 19-year-old in 2019, then missed the 2020 minor league season due to the pandemic. A dislocated shoulder caused him to miss a lot of time in 2021, but he made up for it in 2022, hitting 24 home runs and hitting .307/.425/.611 over three minor league levels to earn his first major league call-up.
The Athletic’s Keith Law recently ranked Carroll as his top prospect in the sport, citing his “positive power” and “advanced plate discipline” while calling him a “true center back.” There’s no doubt that Carroll is one of the brightest stars in the game, and the type of teams players dream of building a roster around.
Carroll’s name popped up in trade talks earlier this winter as the Diamondbacks looked to ease the outfield blockage a bit, but it always seemed like he was off limits and the team eventually ended up sending Daulton Varsho in Toronto for Gabriel Moreno And Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Law ranked the Diamondbacks as having the fourth-best farming system in the game, and indeed the team is well-prepared to face a slew of young talent on the way in the future. Carroll is the big name there, but Moreno, Jordan LalarDruw Jones and co will mean the team has a lot of talent coming in over the next few seasons.
When it comes to finances, the D’Backs have placed a big bet on a player with just 32 MLB games under his belt. However, if Carroll is about to live up to the hype, the extension will become a very good deal from general manager Mike Hazen. It’s not yet clear how the contract will be distributed, but it comes with an AAV of $13.875 million. Arizona has a lot of money coming off the books this year, and with just $32 million in guaranteed payroll for 2025 (Carroll accounts for nearly half of that). Although the Diamondbacks have traditionally been mid-range spenders at best, they still have plenty of payroll flexibility so the team can make external additions, or perhaps sign other extensions with members of their youngster. core.
MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert was the first to report that the two sides had reached an agreement. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported earlier today that Carroll and the Diamondbacks were “make progress” on an extension, and Piecoro also had (Twitter connections) details of indexation clauses and the distribution of salaries from one year to the next.
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