Top prospect Carroll signs 8-year extension with D-backs

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- From the day they selected him in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft, the D-backs have seen outfielder Corbin Carroll as a player to build around. And now the 22-year-old has a contract deserving of that distinction.

The D-backs and Carroll on Saturday night finalized an eight-year contract that includes a club option for 2031. The deal guarantees Carroll $111 million and would reach $134 million if the option is exercised, a source told MLB.com. There are also escalators in the pact for '29-31.

Carroll is the leader of a young group of position players that the D-backs hope will form their core for years to come. Outfielder Alek Thomas, another highly regarded prospect, also made his big league debut last year, and the team acquired another top prospect in catcher Gabriel Moreno in a deal with the Blue Jays on Dec. 23.

• D-backs Top 30 prospects list

Waiting in the wings are the team’s last two No. 1 picks -- shortstop Jordan Lawlar (who was taken sixth overall in 2021) and outfielder Druw Jones (who was the second overall selection last year), along with a quartet of young starting pitchers in Tommy Henry, Drey Jameson, Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt.

Like Carroll, both Lawlar and Jones were selected out of high school. The D-backs would be thrilled if the pair rises through the system as fast as Carroll, who is ranked the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.

Taken with the No. 16 overall pick, Carroll began his pro career not long after the 2019 MLB Draft. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League season, so Carroll spent the summer at the team’s alternate training site, where he got to compete against the organization’s best.

Carroll began the 2021 season at High-A Hillsboro, but a little over a week into the season, Carroll injured his right shoulder while hitting a home run, causing him to miss the rest of the season.

In 2022, Carroll started at Double-A Hillsboro before climbing to Triple-A Reno and eventually earning an August callup to the big leagues.

In 32 games for the D-backs, Carroll slashed .260/.330/.500 and seemed unfazed by the higher level of competition.

The last pre-arbitration contract extension given out by the D-backs was to infielder Ketel Marte, who has received a pair of extensions: for five years and $24 million in 2018 and a five-year, $76 million deal last spring. Prior to that, Arizona gave Paul Goldschmidt a five-year, $32 million extension in the spring of 2013, after he had played one year and a month in the big leagues.

The largest contract in club history was the six-year, $206.5 million free-agent deal given to right-hander Zack Greinke prior to the 2016 season.

Carroll's deal would be the largest contract ever signed by a player with fewer than 100 days service time and no experience in a non-U.S. league. The previous record was the $70 million given to the Braves' Michael Harris on Aug. 16.

The contract allows the D-backs to buy out Carroll’s arbitration years plus two free-agent seasons while also allowing him the opportunity to hit the open market at 31, at the latest.