All you need to know about the mammoth contract extension of Diamondback star Corbin Carroll ahead of the new MLB season.
Corbin Carroll, an outfielder for the Diamondbacks, and the team have reached an agreement on a new eight-year contract that will be worth at least $111,000,000 in guaranteed money. The contract also includes an option for the club to pay $28 million for the 2031 season, and an additional $20 million is available through escalators that cover the years 2029 through 2031. CAA Sports is Carroll’s agency of representation.
Carroll will receive a signing bonus of $5 Million and a salary of $1 Million for the current season as part of the deal. Following that, Carroll will earn $3,000,000 in the year 2024, $5,000,000 in the year 2025, $10,000,000 in the year 2026, $12,000,000 in the year 2027, $14,000,000 in the year 2028, and then $28,000,000 in each of the seasons 2029 and 2030.
The buyout for the $28 million club option for 2031 is set at $5 million. The $20 million in escalator clauses are primarily tied to Carroll’s results in award voting that takes place throughout the duration of the contract.
The option to exercise the extension will determine whether or not the remaining club-controlled years and at least two of Carroll’s free agency years will be paid for by the extension. If the option is not exercised, the extension will pay for the remaining club-controlled years. Even if the D-Backs choose to pick up that option year, Carroll will not be able to enter free agency until he is 31 years old because he is only 22 years old at this point.
Carroll is the cornerstone of what the D’backs hope will be a new wave of youthful talent to their major league team. This move by Arizona is an aggressive one to lock up the future face of their club, and it’s a move that’s being seen as aggressive. This is the largest contract ever signed for a player with fewer than 100 days of Major League service time (and no experience in foreign leagues), easily surpassing the $70 million that Atlanta gave Michael Harris the previous year. The team has also made history with this deal, as it is the largest contract ever signed for a player with fewer than 100 days of Major League service time.
In his first season with the Diamondbacks, Carroll made his debut last year and finished with 115 plate appearances, hitting.260/.330/.500 with four home runs. On the field, he also contributed a great deal of value, as evidenced by the fact that he earned five Outs Above Average despite playing only a limited amount of time in the outfield. Importantly, Carroll came up 15 plate appearances short of achieving 130 in his rookie year, which means he will still be eligible for Rookie of the Year honours in 2023. This is a significant accomplishment for Carroll.
Carroll, who was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 16th round of the draught, established himself quite quickly as an intriguing young prospect moving up through the organisation. In his debut year of professional baseball as a 19-year-old in 2019, he had a batting line of.299/.409/.487. However, he was unable to play in the minor leagues in 2020 due to the pandemic. He missed a large amount of time in 2021 due to a dislocated shoulder, but he made up for it in 2022 by belting 24 home runs and hitting.307/.425/.611 across all three levels of the minor leagues, which earned him his first call up to the major leagues.
Carroll’s name was mentioned in trade rumors earlier this winter when the Diamondbacks were looking to clear up some outfield roster space, but it always seemed like he was off the table, and the Diamondbacks ultimately ended up trading Daulton Varsho to Toronto for Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. instead of making a deal involving Carroll.
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