Outfielder Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement on an eight-year, $111 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal confirmed to ESPN, tying one of the top prospects in baseball to the team through his prime seasons.
The deal includes a ninth-year club option that would bring the total to $134 million, sources said.
Carroll, 22, debuted last year and lived up to the hype that had built up during his ascent to the big leagues. In 32 games, he hit .260/.330/.500 with four home runs, 14 RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. Still Rookie of the Year-eligible, Carroll is regarded as the favorite by oddsmakers going into 2023.
He arrived in Arizona after just 162 minor league games, storming through Double-A and Triple-A with an elite five-tool set. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Carroll is not only the fastest player in the major leagues but stroked 24 home runs in 442 minor league plate appearances last season, slashed .307/.425/.610 and played a well-above-average left field.
Drafted with the 16th overall pick in 2019, Carroll would have gone higher but for his slight frame and the perceived lack of competition in his home state of Washington. Those perceptions were almost immediately proven misguided, as Carroll impressed evaluators in his debut season.
During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Carroll’s game improved even more, and he was primed for a big 2021 until he injured his shoulder on a home run swing seven games into the year. He returned healthy last season, and his play forced the Diamondbacks to call Carroll up despite already having a deep, young outfield that included Daulton Varsho, Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas.
Arizona traded Varsho over the winter for catcher Gabriel Moreno, adding another potential impact bat to a lineup teeming with talent. The Diamondbacks, who last finished over .500 in the 2019 season, are primed to take a leap forward this season on account of full years from Carroll and McCarthy, plus the arrival of Moreno and potential mid-summer promotion of Jordan Lawlar, a potential franchise-cornerstone shortstop.
With one of the best young cores in baseball, Arizona locking up a player of Carroll’s potential is an enormous priority. For smaller-market teams, the cost savings — and potential upside of the deal — makes such contracts increasingly attractive. Rather than keep a player for only his first six seasons, teams gravitate toward deals that buy out arbitration and cover free agent years as well.
Certainly the Diamondbacks can afford the deal. Their projected payroll of just over $110 million is by far the lowest of any National League West team. Nine teams currently carry payrolls lower than Arizona. The Diamondbacks nonetheless enter the season harboring hopes of contention, even in a division where the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are seen as the favorites.
MLB.com first reported the extension.
