Carlos Carrasco was in attendance this night as Venezuelan countryman Salvador Perez was honored as MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award winner. Carrasco instructed reporters that he has begun his offseason coaching routine and hopes to pitch for 2 extra seasons (X hyperlink by way of Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com).
The veteran right-hander turns 38 in March. Pitching two extra seasons would take him close to his fortieth birthday. Carrasco elected minor league free company after the Guardians had been eradicated from the AL Championship Sequence. He’d have gotten to the open market 5 days after the conclusion of the World Sequence anyhow since he has effectively over six years of MLB service.
Carrasco is sort of actually a minor league deal for the second straight offseason. The longtime Cleveland hurler rejoined the group on a non-roster contract in January. He broke camp and locked in a $2MM base wage. Carrasco held a rotation spot for almost all of the season, making 21 begins and tossing 103 2/3 innings. That was sufficient to land him third on the crew in workload, although his outcomes weren’t spectacular. Carrasco allowed 5.64 earned runs per 9 with a middling 19.9% strikeout proportion. The Guardians ran him via outright waivers in September.
That marks consecutive subpar showings for the 15-year veteran. Carrasco additionally scuffled throughout his third and closing season as a member of the Mets. Opponents tagged him for a 6.80 ERA over 90 innings in 2023. He owns a 6.18 ERA throughout 41 begins over the past two seasons. Carrasco nonetheless throws strikes and will get ground-balls at respectable charges, however declining velocity has price him whiffs and led to bother retaining the ball within the park.
