The LG Twins have made a notable late-season pivot, bringing in veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco for the rest of the 2026 campaign and moving on from reliever Yacksel Rios.
Carrasco’s deal comes with a $360K guarantee, and the 39-year-old will head to South Korea to fill the roster spot vacated by Rios. The move drops Carrasco into the reigning 2025 KBO champions, who are currently third in the standings, two games behind the KT Wiz and three back of the Samsung Lions.
For Carrasco, the trip overseas ends what may have been the longest-running DFA shuffle around. Over the past calendar year, the Braves designated him for assignment seven times, and each time he elected free agency before quickly landing another minor league contract.
This time, he gets guaranteed money and a steadier role than he would have had grinding through Triple-A. He also gets the chance to work in a rotation spot and join a title race in a new environment late in his career.
Carrasco’s résumé still carries real weight. From 2014-22, he logged 1209 2/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, a 27.2% strikeout rate and a 6% walk rate.
He never made an All-Star team during that stretch, but he did finish fourth in Cy Young voting in 2017, signed two significant extensions with Cleveland and won 112 big league games. He also crossed 1700 major league innings and was part of three postseason rotations, all with Cleveland.
His last strong, healthy big league season came with the Mets in 2022. Since then, he’s bounced from the Mets to the Guardians, Yankees and Braves, and over the past three-plus seasons he posted a 6.33 ERA across 256 major league innings. Even so, he has been excellent in Triple-A Gwinnett this year, recording a 2.55 ERA in 35 1/3 innings.
Atlanta’s pitching depth picture may have also played into the timing. Hurston Waldrep has already been activated from the injured list, AJ Smith-Shawver is on a rehab assignment and nearing the end of his rehab window, and the Braves are hopeful Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider can return before the season ends. With the trade deadline 12 days away, Atlanta is still casting a wide net for rotation help.
Rios’ release is a bit of a surprise given how he had pitched in Korea. In 17 1/3 innings for the Twins, he allowed seven runs, good for a 3.63 ERA, while giving up 16 hits and seven walks and striking out 17.
Yoo noted that his four-seamer was sitting just under 98 mph and that he had generally been throwing well. Still, the Twins have been pushed into several bullpen games lately because of shaky rotation depth, and they’re using one of their two foreign-player spots on Carrasco in hopes of stabilizing the starting staff.
Rios could still surface elsewhere. He pitched well in the KBO and also put together a decent run in the Cubs system earlier this season, posting a 4.24 ERA in 17 Triple-A innings and adding 1 2/3 scoreless MLB frames. He’s now a free agent and may need to settle for a minor league deal, but another big league opportunity remains possible.
In Other News...
Braves Quietly Turned The Montero Trade Into A Much Bigger Win
The Rafael Montero deal looked like a straightforward bullpen swap when Atlanta sent him to Detroit, but the return has given the Braves something far more useful than a quiet roster footnote. Monteros path since then has been a winding one, with a decent stretch in Detroit before he eventually landed at Triple-A with the Yankees, while Atlanta has watched the other side of the transaction turn into an unexpected spark in the infield.
What has made the move stand out is how quickly the Braves have gotten real value from a player who was not supposed to be the story. The production has been better than anyone reasonably expected, and the growing fan support around him has only added to the appeal, even if there are still reasons to wonder how long this level of offense can last. For a club always looking for useful, affordable depth, this is the kind of trade outcome that can quietly matter a lot. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Make Rotation Move That Could Reshape More Than This Series
Martn Prez is back in the Braves rotation at a time when every pitching decision feels a little heavier than usual. Atlanta reinstated the left-hander from the injured list during its series with the Padres, setting him up to start Game 3 after a several-week absence, and the move gives the club a veteran arm just as it tries to steady the back end of the staff.
To make room, Atlanta sent JR Ritchie to Triple-A Gwinnett after a brief outing in the loss to San Diego. The Braves have been juggling arms all season, and with the trade deadline creeping closer, even a routine-looking rotation shuffle carries a little more meaning than it would in May. [Read more 🡒]