Former Guardians legend finally gets off Braves' hamster wheel with overseas opportunity

This year, Carlos Carrasco has been designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves six times, and each time resulted in him signing another minor league deal with the Braves. 

He was essentially the 41st man on their 40-man roster since every DFA came with an implicit understanding that he’d re-sign a minor league deal with the Braves and would be called upon whenever the Braves needed someone to eat some innings out of their bullpen. 

But that cycle came to a merciful end yesterday when Carrasco signed a one-year contract with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. 

While Carrasco’s opportunity with the Lions doesn’t come with the same MLB proximity as his minor league deals with the Braves, it comes with a bit more stability and also gives him a chance to pitch some marquee innings for a Lions team that’s in third-place in the KBO standings.

Carlos Carrasco signs contract in Korea after riding DFA carousel with Braves 

Carrasco ended up throwing 16 2/3 big league innings with the Braves this season, where he posted a 5.94 ERA pitching exclusively out of the bullpen.  

He opened his stint with the Braves with a 2.45 ERA in his first four appearances (7 1/3 innings), but he’s run into some troubles as of late. He’s recorded two blown saves across his final four outings with Atlanta, and allowed five runs in two innings in his last appearance with them at the start of July. 

That said, he’s recorded a 2.55 ERA in 35 1/3 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett, so it seems clear that his stuff plays against weather competition, which should help him in Korea. 

His opportunity with the Lions came about after they released Yacksel Ríos earlier this week. Teams in the KBO are only allowed to have two foreign starters, so Carrasco will take Ríos’ spot. 

He’s a perfect option for the Lions given he has a plethora of MLB experience and has worked as both a starter and reliever.

The Lions are also the perfect opportunity for him since his chances with the Braves have been drying up recently as the Braves’ pitching staff has gotten healthier. 

Even if the end of Carrasco’s career is going to be defined by his dizzying movement through the Braves system, he still is one of the best pitchers in modern Guardians history. 

He rebuilt himself into a quality MLB pitcher in 2014 via his stint in the bullpen, and authored a fantastic 2017 season where he led MLB with 18 wins and had a 3.29 ERA in 200 innings. 

His return to Cleveland in 2024 seemed like the perfect swan song for his career, but he’s been able to stick around for two more seasons via time spent with the Yankees and Braves. 

Now he’s going to head east for what could be the final stop of his career. 

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