Diamondbacks, Nationals Begin Long Road Back By Giving Eight-Year Contracts To Blue-Chip Prospects

In a stunning continuation of a growing trend in Major League Baseball, two young players agreed to eight-year contract extensions over the weekend long before they would have qualified for free agency.

Outfielder Corbin Carroll, widely considered a strong contender for National League Rookie of the Year, will get a guarantee of at least $111 million from the Arizona Diamondbacks while switch-hitting catcher Keibert Ruiz accepted a Washington Nationals pact worth $50 million in guaranteed money.

The Carroll contract is the largest ever given a player with less than 100 days of service time, topping the $72 million, eight-year deal given Atlanta Braves center-fielder Michael Harris II, promoted from Double-A in May and eventual winner of 2022 top rookie honors in the NL.

A left-handed hitter with 30/30 potential, Carroll came up in August and hit .260 with a .330 on-base percentage and .500 slugging average in 115 trips to the plate. To retain rookie status, a player must not exceed 130 at-bats.

The swift Seattle native is small by baseball standards at 5’10” but is expected to make a big impact on a club that has not won a pennant since 2001.

The D’backs finished fourth in the NL West last year with a 74-88 record that left them 37 games out of first place.

Carroll’s contract carries him through 2031 if a $28 million club option is exercised. That option also contains a $5 million buyout. The deal also provides the player the potential to earn up to $20 million more based upon his performance in awards voting, such as Most Valuable Player and Gold Glove Award.

In addition to a $5 million signing bonus, Carroll will get $1 million this year, $3 million next year, $5 million in 2025, $10 million in 2026, $12 million in 2027, $14 million in 2028, and $28 million in both 2029 and 2030.

The contract erases any chance of salary arbitration and prevents Carroll from becoming a free agent until he turns 31 – assuming the team picks up his option.

Arizona’s payroll of $102,138,571 ranks 21st in the majors, Spotrac figures show, with veteran pitcher Madison Bumgarner the highest-paid player at $23 million per season.

According to Lindy’s Sports Baseball, a respected annual magazine, Carroll is “arguably the best prospect in baseball.”

He is expected to play center field in an Arizona outfield that could also include comeback candidates Kyle Lewis, a former American League Rookie of the Year, and holdovers Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., Jake McCarthy, and Alek Thomas. McCarthy stole a club-high 23 bases last year, tied with third baseman Josh Rojas.

Washington’s road to recovery is even longer than Arizona’s. The 2022 Nationals lost 107 games, their worst performance since moving to the capital from Montreal for the 2005 season. That left them 46 games behind and looking up at a top-heavy division led by the league-champion Philadelphia Phillies and a pair of 101-game winners, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

World champions in 2019, when they rode a wild-card win to a world championship, the Nationals have since been trading high-priced veterans for young players of potential who could anchor their return to contending status.

Ruiz, a switch-hitting catcher acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers with pitcher Josiah Gray in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the West Coast, tops that list.

His eight-year contract, with a guarantee of $50 million, would last a decade if two club options are exercised.

That would keep Ruiz, now 24, in the capital through 2032 but allow him to explore free agency at least once in his career.

A switch-hitter known more for making contact than producing power, Ruiz hit .251 in 2022, his first full season in the majors. The Venezuelan backstop threw out 28.2% of runners trying to steal but could have a harder time this year because of new rules that made bases bigger and decreased the distances between them by four-and-a-half inches.

The Ruiz extension includes a signing bonus and two options that could stretch through the 2032 campaign. It has an annual average of $6.25 million, though the catcher would earn $7 million in 2028 and $9 million in both 2029 and 2030.

Before signing the new deal, Ruiz would not have qualified for salary arbitration until the 2024-25 off-season or free agency before 2027-28. The extension wipes out any chance of arbitration and also buys out at least three years of potential free agency.

Signing Ruiz was a priority for Mike Rizzo, president of baseball operations for the Nationals. He is the anchor of a young cadre that also includes shortstop CJ Abrams, left-handed starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, and blue-chip prospects Robert Hassell, James Wood, and Cade Cavalli.

According to Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post, the contract includes a signing bonus and half of his $50 million guarantee over the final three years: $7 million in 2028 and $9 million in both the 2029 and 2030 seasons. If exercised, the two club options would cover the catcher through the 2032 season.

Ruiz, coming off his first big-league campaign, seldom strikes out, walks, or clears the fences. He homered just seven times last year but missed the last month with a groin injury.

The Ruiz extension was somewhat of a surprise for Washington, which ranks 23rd in the majors with a $77,608,095 payroll, according to Spotrac.

The Nationals were burned by long-term contracts given to pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, by far the top-paid players on the team. Strasburg pitched only eight innings since signing a seven-year, $245 million pact in the wake of the 2019 world championship season. His health remains a major concern.

If Ruiz can add power to his portfolio, that would help justify the contract extension. He hit 21 home runs in Triple-A two years ago so the promise is there.

Signing him makes the Nationals more attractive to any prospective buyer. Owned by the Lerner family since coming to town, the team has been up for sale for several seasons.