Report: Indians and Carlos Carrasco Agree to Extension Thru 2022

With the MLB Winter Meetings approaching next week the Indians have secured one of the three pitchers that were possible candidates to be traded.

On Thursday, the Cleveland Indians issued a press release stating that the team and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco agreed to a four-year contract that will keep the starter in Cleveland until 2022 with an option for 2023.

Below is the press release in which the Indians organization announced the new deal:

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed RHP CARLOS CARRASCO to a four-year contract thru the 2022 season with a club option for the 2023 campaign.

 

Carrasco, 31, has recorded double-digit win totals and made at least 25 starts in each of the last four seasons since 2015, posting a 17-10 mark with a 3.38 ERA in 32 games/30 starts in 2018 (192.0IP, 173H, 72ER, 43BB, 231SO).  His 231 strikeouts were a single-season career-high for Carlos and ranked fourth among all American League pitchers.  He also finished tied for fourth in the A.L. in wins, sixth in strikeouts per 9.0IP (10.8), eighth in ERA and ninth in innings pitched.  Additionally, his 2.52 ERA (25ER/89.1IP) after the All-Star Break was the fourth-lowest mark in the circuit.

fWAR LEADERS, 2015-18 MLB Pitchers (Fangraphs.com) 1.      Max Scherzer              25.5 2.      Chris Sale                   25.3 3.      Corey KLUBER          23.6 4.      Clayton Kershaw         23.2 5.      Jacob deGrom             21.4 6.      Justin Verlander           19.0 7.      Carlos CARRASCO    18.2 8.      Gerrit Cole                  17.5

The native of Venezuela owns a career pitching mark of 79-62 with a 3.71 ERA in 207 games/171 starts (1094.1IP, 1018H, 451ER, 1127SO), ranking ninth in franchise history in career strikeouts and second in club history in career strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched. Carrasco was acquired from Philadelphia in July 2009 in a six-player trade that sent LHP Cliff Lee to the Phillies.  He made his Major League debut that September and is currently the longest tenured Indians player at the Major League level.  His 5.3 fWAR in 2018 was tenth among MLB pitchers and his cumulative fWAR of 18.2 since 2015 ranks seventh among all Major League hurlers.

 

Carrasco and his wife, Karelis, make their home between the Cleveland-area and Tampa, FL and are very active in those communities, as well as his native Venezuela.  Through the Carlos Carrasco Foundation, which he started in 2016, the couple has donated their time, raised money and collected resources – such as food, books and clothing – to better the lives of those less fortunate. Because of these efforts, he has been the club’s nominee each of the last four seasons for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, given annually by Major League Baseball for sportsmanship and community involvement.