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The defending South Korean baseball champions LG Twins have acquired former major league starter Carlos Carrasco, bolstering their rotation with the one-time Cy Young Award contender. The Twins announced on Wednesday that Carrasco, 39, will earn US$360,000 for the rest of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, as reported by Yonhap News Agency. The move comes a day after the Twins released reliever Yacksel Rios, choosing to replace the hard-throwing setup man with a veteran starter with 112 career wins in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Coverage Comparison

Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's leading wire service, has reported the signing in multiple dispatches, offering a consistent narrative across its coverage. The initial report focused on the acquisition itself, highlighting Carrasco's experience and the Twins' decision to sign him to strengthen their rotation. A separate Yonhap report framed the preceding release of Rios as a surprising move, noting his solid performance and the Twins' intention to replace him with a new foreign pitcher. A later Yonhap article, published a week after the signing, delved into Carrasco's motivations for joining the KBO, presenting his decision as driven by a desire for a new experience and the team's passionate fanbase. The coverage across these reports is largely informative and optimistic, with direct quotes from Carrasco in the later piece.

Key Claims

  • Carrasco's contract and experience: Carrasco signed with the LG Twins for US$360,000 for the remainder of the KBO season, as stated by Yonhap. He has 17 years of MLB experience, having played for four clubs, most recently the Atlanta Braves in 2025 and 2026. Carrasco has 112 career MLB wins.
  • Carrasco's career highlights: Carrasco led the American League with 18 wins in 2017 and finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting that year, according to Yonhap. In his best years with the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) from 2015 to 2018, he had a combined 60-36 record with a 3.40 ERA in 119 appearances, plus 823 strikeouts in 722 innings.
  • Recent performance: In his eight MLB appearances this year, all in relief, Carrasco did not record a win or loss and pitched to a 5.94 ERA, Yonhap reported. In Triple-A, he went 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in eight games, including six starts.
  • Rios's release: The Twins released setup man Yacksel Rios on Tuesday, about a month after acquiring him, Yonhap reported. Rios had a 3.63 ERA with five holds and two saves in 14 outings, striking out 17 batters in 17 1/3 innings. The Twins said they were in the final stages of contract negotiations with a new foreign pitcher to take Rios's spot.
  • Twins' current form: The Twins have a loyal fanbase, with 1,143,330 fans through Tuesday's action, according to Yonhap. However, the team is going through its roughest patch of the year, having lost eight consecutive games, during which they fell from first to third in the standings.

Carrasco's Motivation

In his first KBO media availability, Carrasco expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying, "I would like to thank God for this opportunity. I felt like this was a great opportunity, and the team really sold me on how they needed me here." He added that a key reason for his move was a desire for a new experience: "One of the biggest reasons that I chose to come here is that I felt I needed some new experience. Some of my former teammates who have played in the KBO told me a lot of great things about the KBO. And ultimately, I came to South Korea because I wanted to have a special experience in my career." Carrasco noted that two former Twins pitchers, Elieser Hernandez and Adam Plutko, told him about the passion of KBO fans, who cheer nonstop from the first pitch to the final out, regardless of the score.