The Diamondbacks and outfielder Corbin Carroll agree to an eight-year extension worth at least $111 million in guaranteed money. The deal also includes a $28 million club option for the 2031 season, with an additional $20 million available in Escalators for 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 be $3 million in 2024, $5 million in 2025, $10 million in 2026, $12 million in 2027, $14 million in 2028 and then respectively Earning $28 million in the 2029 and 2030 seasons. The $28M Club Option for 2031 includes a $5M buyout. The $20 million escalator clauses relate primarily to Carroll’s results in price matching over the course of 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 the option is exercised or not. Because Carroll is only 22, he can still hit free agency at age 31, even if the D’Backs pick up this option year.
It’s an aggressive move by Arizona in capturing the future face of their franchise, as Carroll is at the heart of what the D’backs hope will bring a new wave of young talent to their big league roster. The team also made history with this deal, as it’s the largest deal ever signed for a player with under 100 days of major league service (and no experience in foreign leagues) that’s worth the $70 million , which Atlanta has given, clearly eclipses MichaelHarris last year.
Carroll made his debut for the Diamondbacks last season and hit .260/.330/.500 with four home runs over 115 plate appearances. He also performed well in the field, earning five above-average outs with his little work in the outfield. Crucially, Carroll missed 15 plate appearances last season instead of making 130, meaning he’s still eligible for Rookie of the Year honors in 2023.
As the 16th overall pick, Carroll quickly made a name for himself as an exciting young player coming through the Diamondbacks’ system. He hit .299/.409/.487 in his freshman year as a 19-year-old in 2019 and then missed the 2020 minor league season due to the pandemic. He missed a significant time in 2021 with a dislocated shoulder, but he made up for it in 2022 by hitting 24 homers and hitting .307/.425/.611 in three minor league levels to earn his first big league reputation .
The Athletic’s Keith Law recently ranked Carroll as his top candidate for the sport, citing his “plus power” and “advanced plate discipline” while calling him a “true center fielder.” There’s no question that Carroll is one of the game’s brightest stars, and the kind of player teams that dream of building a roster.
Carroll’s name surfaced in tech talk earlier this winter when the Diamondbacks were trying to ease a minor outfield jam, but it always seemed off-limits and the team eventually sent Daulton Varsho to Toronto for Gabriel Moreno And Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Law ranked the Diamondbacks as the fourth best farming system in the game, and indeed the team is well placed to compete in the future with a bevy of young talent on the way. Carroll is the big name there, but Moreno, Jordan LawlarDruw Jones and co will mean the team has plenty of talent in the coming seasons.
Financially, the D’Backs have a big bet on a player with just 32 MLB games under his belt. However, if Carroll lives up to the hype, the expansion will be a very good deal from GM Mike Hazen. It’s still unclear how the contract will be distributed, but it comes with an AAV of $13.875 million. Arizona has big money off the books this year and with just $32 million in guaranteed payroll for 2025 (Carroll accounts for nearly half of that). While the Diamondbacks have traditionally been mid-range donors at best, they still have a good degree of salary flexibility for the team to make outside additions or perhaps sign other additions with members of their young core.
MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert was the first to report that both sides had reached an agreement. Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro reported earlier in the day that Carroll and the Diamondbacks “making progress” on an extension, and Piecoro also had (Twitter connections) Details of price escalation clauses and annual salary breakdown.
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