PHOENIX — Over the weekend, the Arizona Diamondbacks did something that hasn’t been done in Major League Baseball before, they signed their top prospect Corbin Carroll to a record-breaking eight-year, $111 million extension.
It’s a first for baseball. No other team has ever signed someone to a deal this large with fewer than 100 games of service.
Carroll, who is the number two ranked prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline is also one of the favorites to win National League Rookie of the Year in 2023. He's also one of the fastest players in baseball and is a big part of the future of the Diamondbacks franchise.
Host Millard Thomas of the Locked On Diamondbacks podcast was joined by Paul Francis Sullivan of Locked On MLB on the latest episode of Locked On Diamondbacks to discuss this unprecedented extension.
Thomas said, “For the Diamondbacks and for Corbin Carroll, this is a great extension. For the Diamondbacks, they get to lock up the best prime years of Corbin Carroll. This is someone that’s a speedster, an elite athlete and he’s someone who is probably going to slow down as he enters his late 30s because he’s currently one of the fastest players in baseball.”
Thomas added, “He’s currently 22 years old and you’re paying him for his peak years: ages 22 to about 31. You’re paying for the best years of Corbin Carroll and it can be a complete bargain value if Carroll hits his ceiling.”
Thomas also talked about the signing from Carroll’s perspective saying, “For Corbin Carroll, you get built-in security. If you are super good and you are good right away, you don’t have to go through those arbitration years where you’re super undervalued and if you get hurt you’re not making that long-term money. You get the security and you get the money upfront.”
The Diamondbacks announced the deal on Saturday but at the time, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Carroll sent out a tweet on Saturday night celebrating the deal saying, “Incredibly honored to call the valley my home for the foreseeable future. We are building something special.”
“The Diamondbacks are coming right out and saying, ‘We believe in you,’ and so he’s getting paid ahead of time.," Sullivan said.
Now Thomas did also err on the side of caution saying there is a possibility this deal doesn’t work out for the Diamondbacks and Carroll.
Signing someone to a deal like this when he only has 32 MLB games under his belt is a big risk, but Thomas quickly added that he doesn’t see a scenario in which Carroll isn’t at least a solid MLB player.
He envisions Carroll as someone who can hit at least .290, get on base, and once he’s on those bases, he will steal them at a 30-per-year clip. Thomas added, “I think Diamondbacks fans everywhere should rejoice.”
Carroll was drafted in 2019 by the Diamondbacks as the 16th pick in the first round and he made his debut last season. In those aforementioned 32 games, he batted .260/.330/.500 with four home runs.
Carroll was a standout player in the minors quickly moving through Double-A to Triple-A in 2022 while bashing 24 home runs in 442 plate appearances while batting .307/.425/.610.
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