Infielder Carlos Correa, a free agent, and the Minnesota Twins have agreed on a six-year, $200 million deal with a vesting option that could raise the total to $270 million. The agreement ends a month-long free agent saga for the star MLB infielder, who previously reached deals with the Giants and Mets this winter. While Correa’s physical was still up in the air this winter, the Twins officially announced the signing on Wednesday after Correa passed the test.
This resolution in Minnesota, where Correa also played in 2022, follows a confusing few weeks during which the shortstop and the Mets tentatively agreed to a 12-year, $315 million contract before the Mets hesitated over the shortstop’s physical. The right lower leg of Correa, which was surgically repaired when he was a teenager, is thought to have been of concern to the Mets. Correa signed with the Mets before his 13-year, $350 million deal contract with the San Francisco Giants, which collapsed over similar issues. After the Giants took too long to resume talks, his agent, Scott Boras, decided to move on and look for other opportunities.
The team’s initial six-year, $157.5 million guaranteed offer was later lowered to six years with yearly physicals during further negotiations with the Mets, according to the New York Post.
It should be noted that since having the procedure while playing in the minor leagues for the Houston Astros, Correa has not needed to spend time on the injured list because of his right leg. Therefore, the issue is one of prediction rather than prescription. According to Jon Heyman, the examination portion of Correa’s Twins’ physical that dealt with his ankle has already been finished, which suggests that the deal is likely to be approved medically.
According to Dan Hayes, the first $200 million is guaranteed, and option years will vest by at-bat thresholds.
The third-best free agent available this offseason, according to CBS Sports, was Correa, who is 28. Here is what we composed:
We have previously discussed Bill James’ hypothesis that it is better for a player’s perception if they start hot rather than finish hot. James once reasoned that this would make their stat line look better for longer. Correa might be proof that the theory is at play. He started slowly, homing just once in April and producing a depressed stat line that persisted into the summer. As a result, even though he improved throughout the summer, people thought he was having a down year. Now that the leaves are beginning to fall, you can see on his Baseball-Reference page that his OPS was higher in 2022 than in 2021, a season that was good enough to propel him to the top of our free-agent rankings last winter. So everyone shouldn’t be surprised if Correa receives his rate and term this time because he is still an outstanding player.
Correa, a two-time All-Star, slugged. 291. 366/. The Twins will score 467 while hitting 22 home runs in 136 games in 2022. He’s batted.279/ for his entire career. 357/. 479 while offering solid shortstop defense. The fact that he has amassed almost 40 Wins Above Replacement and is thus on what could be considered a Hall of Fame track is, therefore, not surprising.
Following the opt-out exercise in his contract with Minnesota, Correa re-entered the free agent market. Correa’s physical with the Twins might be less rigorous than his ones with the Mets and Giants due to his shorter contract and lower overall payout. Nevertheless, if this offseason has taught us anything, Correa’s next contract is only specific once the ink is put on the paper.