Breaking News: The Yankees add former AL wins leader in free agency.
Jack Curry of YES Network reported Monday that the New York Yankees had signed veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco to a minor league contract, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post adding that the deal includes a major league base of $1.5 million with the possibility of earning $2.5 million in performance bonuses. Carrasco led the American League with 18 wins as a member of the Cleveland Indians in 2017 and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting. Following a subsequent battle with leukemia, Carrasco won AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2019.
Carrasco, who will turn 38 next month, is obviously over the hill at this point, but there seems to be enough left for the Yankees, who have another right-handed starter they are trying to get rid of, to give him a try on a minor-league deal (with a presumed invitation to Major League spring training too). Carrasco pitched for the New York Mets from 2021–23, but it was a terribly uninspired tenure where he posted an overall ERA of 5.21 and finished with a negative WAR in two of his three seasons. He then returned to Cleveland last season, but remained extremely bad, finishing with a 3-10 record, a 5.64 ERA, and a 1.40 WHIP over 21 starts.
