By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The defending South Korean baseball champions LG Twins acquired former major league starter Carlos Carrasco on Wednesday, bolstering their rotation with the one-time Cy Young Award contender.

The Twins said Carrasco, 39, will make US$360,000 for the rest of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. The move comes a day after the Twins released reliever Yacksel Rios, as they chose to replace the hard-throwing setup man with a veteran starter with 112 career wins in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Atlanta Braves reliever Carlos Carrasco pitches against the Washington Nationals during the clubs' Major League Baseball regular-season game at Nationals Park in Washington on April 23, 2026, in this Associated Press file photo. (Yonhap)

Carrasco has spent 17 years in MLB for four clubs, most recently the Atlanta Braves in 2025 and 2026. He enjoyed his best years with the Cleveland Indians (currently Guardians) from 2015 to 2018, when he had a combined 60-36 with a 3.40 ERA in 119 appearances, plus 823 strikeouts in 722 innings.

In 2018, the right-hander finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting after leading the league with 18 wins while also finishing fifth with 226 strikeouts and sixth with a 3.29 ERA.

Carrasco did not have a win-loss record in his eight MLB appearances this year, all of them in relief, while pitching to a 5.94 ERA. In Triple-A, he went 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in eight games, including six starts.

The Twins said they expect the veteran starter to adjust to the KBO quickly, thanks to his wealth of experience and steady command of all pitches.

New LG Twins pitcher Carlos Carrasco signs his contract with the Korea Baseball Organization club, in this photo provided by the Twins on July 22, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

KBO teams are each allowed to sign a maximum two foreign pitchers, plus another pitcher from Japan, Taiwan or Australia as their Asian quota player.

To begin their Korean Series title defense this year, the Twins brought back the two foreign starters that ended the 2025 season, Yonny Chirinos and Anders Tolhurst, and acquired Australian left-hander Lachlan Wells as their Asian quota player. The Twins then cut Chirinos in early June as he was struggling through elbow problems, and signed Rios to address their bullpen woes.

The Twins have been forced into several bullpen days lately, which has coincided with their season-worst six-game losing streak. They have now rolled the dice by releasing Rios, who had a perfectly serviceable 3.63 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings and owned the highest average fastball velocity in the KBO at 157.2 kilometers per hour, and signing an aging starter four years removed from his last decent MLB season.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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