Carlos Carrasco's wild DFA carousel finally lands him in Korea

Some guys get released once and it's a footnote. Carlos Carrasco turned it into a bit. The 39-year-old right-hander has spent 2026 bouncing on and off Atlanta's roster so many times that it's been called the longest-running DFA carousel in baseball history, getting designated for assignment 7 separate times over the past year and re-signing on a new minor league deal almost every time. That carousel just took its final, and strangest, turn.

MLB Trade Rumors

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KBO's LG Twins Sign Carlos Carrasco, Release Yacksel Rios t.co/Hu7IySi0bX

Per MLB Trade Rumors, the KBO's LG Twins have signed Carrasco and released reliever Yacksel Rios to clear his roster spot. Reports pegged the deal at a modest one-year, $360,000 contract, which sounds tiny by MLB standards but is a real, guaranteed shot to actually pitch meaningful innings instead of shuttling between Atlanta and the alternate site.

Context matters here. Carrasco was outrighted off Atlanta's 40-man in late May, re-signed on a minor league deal, then went through the DFA-and-resign shuffle again and again, most recently re-upping with the Braves on July 9. The organization ultimately let him walk once it became clear a call-up wasn't coming, freeing him to chase a bigger opportunity overseas instead of waiting around in the minors for a phone that wasn't ringing.

This is a legitimate landing spot, not a punchline. LG Twins are the reigning 2025 KBO champions, currently sitting in third place, and they're bringing in a 17-year MLB veteran who once led the American League in wins with 18 back in 2017 for the Indians. Carrasco has been a fixture in big league rotations and bullpens for nearly two decades, so getting a competitive team overseas that actually wants him in games is a genuine change of scenery, not a last resort.

It's also Carrasco's first professional stop outside affiliated North American ball, closing the book on a run that's included a Cy Young-caliber peak in Cleveland, a cancer diagnosis and comeback, a title in 2020 with Cleveland's staff, and now a mid-season pivot to Seoul. Whether he pitches his way back stateside next year or rides this out, it's a fitting final act for a guy who refused to just go quietly into retirement despite his own team designating him for assignment seven separate times.