The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a long-term contract extension with outfielder Corbin Carroll, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Steve Gilbert reports. According to Gilbert, the deal will be for eight years and a guaranteed $111 million. An option for the 2031 season, if exercised, would push the total value to $134 million. CBS Sports HQ has confirmed the deal.
Carroll presently has just 38 games of major-league service time, which helps make this reported deal a record:
Nick Piecoro was first to report that the two sides were in talks on a long-term deal.
Carroll, 22, made his major-league debut last season, and in 32 games for the Diamondbacks he slashed .260/.330/.500 (133 OPS+) with four home runs and nine doubles. His rookie status will remain intact for the 2023 season, and the former No. 16 overall pick projects to be Arizona's starting left fielder. Earlier this year, our R.J. Anderson ranked Carroll as baseball's No. 2 prospect. Here's what he wrote:
"Carroll was limited by injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic to 142 minor-league games ahead of his debut in Arizona last August. The lack of repetitions didn't prevent him from batting .260/.330/.500 (133 OPS+) with four home runs and two steals in 32 games. Carroll continued to exhibit swing-and-miss tendencies within the zone, ranking in the 27th percentile in that respect. That flaw won't sink him (Paul Goldschmidt and the aforementioned Gunnar Henderson were just two recognizable names around him on the leaderboard), but it may result in a higher strikeout rate than he was expected to post in the past. Still, Carroll is a well-rounded center fielder with top-of-the-scale speed who ought to provide oodles of secondary value. He should begin the season in the majors."
At a minimum, this deal would lock up Carroll through his age-29 season and buy out at least two of his free-agent years. If the option year is exercised, then Carroll would reach free agency for the first time at age 31.
The usual incentives for such deals involving very young players apply. Committing long-term to the Diamondbacks gives Carroll life-changing money and a powerful hedge against career-altering injuries and struggles. From the club standpoint, the extension gives them cost certainty through Carroll's arbitration years, lengthens the window of team control, and installs a centerpiece talent around which to build as they look to move into contending mode. There's risk on both sides in arrangements such as these, but a sensible middle ground seems to have been achieved.
Other recent long-term contract extensions involving players with less than one year of MLB service time include Wander Franco with the Rays (11 years, $182 million), Ronald Acuña with the Braves (seven years, $99.44 million), Harris' deal noted above, Luis Robert of the White Sox (six years, $50 million), and Eloy Jiménez of the White Sox (six years, $43 million). Robert and Jiménez signed their extensions prior to ever appearing in the majors.
