TODAY: Carrasco will earn a base salary of $2MM if he makes the Guardians’ active roster, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes.
JAN. 27: Veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco is in agreement with the Guardians on a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic.
It’s a reunion between the sides, as Carrasco first joined Cleveland in a trade with the Phillies back in 2009 and made his big league debut shortly thereafter. The righty spent more than a decade with the club, pitching to a 3.77 ERA and 3.42 FIP across 1,242 1/3 innings of work in Cleveland. While he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness early in his tenure with the club, Carrasco eventually settled in to become a quality mid-rotation arm for the club and even earned votes for the AL Cy Young award in both 2015 and 2017. On the heels of a strong 2020 season where Carrasco pitched to a 2.91 ERA across 12 starts, the veteran right-hander was included alongside Francisco Lindor in the blockbuster deal that brought Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene to Cleveland.
Upon joining Lindor in Queens, the then-34-year-old Carrasco quickly began to struggle. Though he posted solid back-of-the-rotation numbers for the Mets in 2022, both the 2021 and 2023 seasons saw Carrasco post ERAs north of 6.00 while managing less than 100 innings of work due to injuries. As Carrasco has entered his mid-thirties, it’s become increasingly difficult for the righty to stay on the field. He battled a hamstring strain and an elbow procedure in 2021, an oblique strain in 2022, and in 2023 suffered from both a bone spur in his elbow and a late-season finger fracture.
Now headed into his age-37 season with a 4.87 ERA in 443 2/3 innings of work dating back to the 2019 season, it’s fair to wonder how much the veteran hurler still has left in the tank. With that being said, bringing a longtime of the club back into the fold on a minor league deal is an incredibly low-risk decision for the Guardians to make. Even if Carrasco is unable to return to the form he flashed in 2022 and provide the club with quality back-of-the-rotation production, bringing a beloved veteran of 14 big league seasons into the club for Spring Training can only help Cleveland’s young rotation arms (such as Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams) as they look to improve upon strong rookie performances in their sophomore seasons.
Maybe a solid bullpen or swing guy for a young club
not sure Cookie has the stuff anymore to be a viable RP.
I’d suspect this is the precursor to the retirement announcement in training camp.
Many people seemed to forget Cookie has Leukemia.
It would grind my gears the past two years to hear Met fans bellyache about how poorly he pitched.
Seriously, a family member of mine has the very same illness (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, or CML). It *never* goes away, unless your meds have shown “undetectable” – for at least TWO years.
He sent a great note to our family when he was in NY. Through continued communication with his camp, we know Cookie takes a daily pill which is super strong (he takes the same prescription as the family member of mine). In some ways it’s like a daily chemo pill. The fact Cookie was able to perform as he has the past few seasons is a MIRACLE.
He will make a great coach. And, as someone else wrote, Cookie is a class act.
It’s almost as if someone can be a great person going through a really tough thing while also not being good at professional baseball anymore.
Best of luck to Cookie. Class act
Reunited and it feels so good.
It’s like the Lance Lynn contract. Minus the 11 million guarantee.
Twins like Arnie S and Danny DeVito
Doubt there is anyone in the game that has anything negative to say about the man. Had a very nice career.
He’s probably not going to make the opening day and will end up retiring.
I don’t think either side signed thinking retirement.
watch him win 20 now
You want a Cookie?
Indians don’t sign players or care about winning
they have few fans
= meh
@ Liberalsteve
I was about to correct you when I realized your statement actually is correct.
The Indians don’t sign players or care about winning. They don’t exist anymore. And they do still have a few diehard fans who don’t want to let go
Unfortunately for baseball fans in Cleveland, the Guardians aren’t a whole lot more active then the Indians…
Cleveland doesn’t care about winning? Since the start of 2013, Cleveland has the 4th best winning percentage in MLB only behind the Dodgers, Yankees, and Astros. And they did that on a small market budget.
I can’t speak for the other poster, but I was speaking about the present, not the past. Right now, the Guardians are making limited efforts to be competitive.
Also, I think you missed the joke. I never said CLEVELAND doesn’t care about winning. I said the Indians because they don’t exist. I simply said the Guardians aren’t doing a whole lot better.
For what it’s worth, racking up the 4th best regular season winning % sounds great until you realize they did that while playing in the creamiest, puffiest, creampuff division in MLB.
Indians? Racist.
Only if YOU think it
LiberalSteve… Speaking out your butt again.
Could be one last hurrah, could be a chance to retire with Cleveland at the end of spring training if things don’t well
I am surprised he didn’t get a big league deal. Yes, 2023 was bad for him, but 2022 he was 15-7 with an ERA under 4.00. In a world where Lucas Giolito is getting $20 million a year, Carrasco should at least be worth 4-5 million,
Love this guy! Congrats to him I knew his story wasn’t over yet
Going home. Great story, if nothing else.
It wasn’t just a “trade with the Phillies”, it was the blockbuster deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Phillies. Carlos ended up being the best part of the return that Cleveland got, producing over 21 WAR including a 4th place finish in the 2017 AL Cy Young.
Sign Danny Salazar next!
And Trevor Bauer …. Get the band back together
I was hoping the Red Sox would take a chance on him seeing that they wouldn’t take a chance on anyone else. Hope he comes back to form; he really only had one bad season.
Was hoping this might happen! Welcome back, Cookie! Now sign Santana and start the love fest reunion season.
Was solid the season before 2023. Is 36 and probably in decline but you never know. Could wind up a top 10 starter in the pathetic AL central if they get lucky.
WELCOME BACK COOKIE….. dude will start games this year….. especially when we trade Bieber
If we’re being completely realistic, he probably doesn’t have much left in the tank (if anything at all). But I think he can provide some backend innings and cover a few starts if they need it from him, and over the course of a full year, they probably will.
There’s also pretty much no such thing as a bad minor league deal, and the Guardians actually do have a need for some experienced depth behind their projected starting five because three of them were rookies last year and the other two missed large amounts of time with injuries. After that, you’re looking at guys who have very limited major league experience (Gaddis) or guys who have none at all (Cantillo). It’s a good story but I think Cookie still has a place with this organization, so it actually makes baseball sense too.
This news does not inspire confidence that Cleveland is interested in competing this year.
He is shot, done, kaput for three years running.
Cleveland cares. Been expecting this. Love me some Cookie.
People saying he doesn’t have anything left in the tank must not have watched any of his starts last year. I watched two and he looked really good in them..so he isn’t completely washed.. He still has flashes of himself so I could def see him as a number five or swing a depending on his health concerns. Great dude too and wish him the best. good veteran voice for that young rotation.
I’m a Mets fan and have watched a lot of him. He was absolutely dreadful last season. Absolute batting practice.
Every year people make a huge fuss over minor league deals and they just don’t get it. There is no risk to these moves. If they work out, great, if not they are released, and no harm is done.
He can make it as a reliever honestly
Twins should have taken a chance on him. Looks like we’re not going to have much of a pitching staff this year. And seeing as pitching was the only reason we did so well last year, makes me think we’re screwed. Tigers al central champs:(
Make the active roster and he’s getting paid as much as Ohtani in 2024.
Hope he figures it out.
Damn. Mets fan here. I was hoping they would bring him back on a similar deal. I used to be a clubbie for the Mets. Old friends told me he’s nothing but a class act and a great locker room presence. You need guys like that. Even though he’s far beyond his best years, he still offers so much value in these other departments.
If he still has anything left, I can see Cookie Carrasco being a good innings eater in the bullpen.