Holy crap it happened, the Minnesota Twins signed Carlos Correa away from the Mets
Well, well, well. Through all of the failed physicals and free agency drama, where did it all lead Carlos Correa?
Back to the Twins.
After storming back into the conversation late last week, the Twins and Correa have reportedly agreed to a monster contract that will see the shortstop return to Minnesota for the next six years.
What began as a one-year rental now becomes a partnership the Twins hope they can build a winner around. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to deliver the good news to fans in Minnesota and break it to the rest of the baseball world that the Twins pulled off a heist.
BREAKING: Shortstop Carlos Correa and the Minnesota Twins are finalizing a six-year, $200 million contract, sources tell ESPN. The deal has a vesting option that can max out at $270 million. It is pending physical.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2023
Of course, the key phrasing here is pending physical. The whole reason Minnesota was able to get back in on Correa was that doctors with the Giants and Mets didn’t like his medicals. The issue stemmed from a decade-old leg injury that Correa suffered while a minor leaguer with the Houston Astros, an injury that hasn’t flared up in a serious way since but clearly alarmed teams who are investing a decade of time and over $300 million in.
Will Carlos Correa physical nix a deal with the Twins, too?
It’s a fair thing to be worried about, but it’s something that is concerning the Twins very much. When Minnesota resurfaced in rumors late last week, one thing working in their favor was the concession the team would likely make when it comes to his medicals.
This is both out of experience and desperation — a perfect Minnesota mix.
Apparently, there was a fear that Correa may have reaggravated his leg injury last season. He didn’t spend any time on the IL as a result, and the injury concern didn’t really pop up until the Giants pressed pause on their deal with him back in December.
That allowed Correa to agree to a deal with the Mets, who also flagged his physical for the same reason.
And that’s how we arrived here, with Correa back in Minnesota — pending a physical.
All along the Twins were pegged as the team likeliest to play it loose with the rules when it comes to Correa’s medicals. The injury was a concern the first time around as well but didn’t stop the Twins from giving Correa a short-term, high AAV deal.
It’s hard to see anything short of his leg being in danger of falling off for the Twins to blow up the deal.
Carlos Correa Mets contract offer the Twins beat
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Correa and how impactful his future with the Twins will be, but those are concerns for another day. Right now, fans in Minnesota should deservedly be doing a bit of a victory lap after a team that is usually an afterthought just stole a top free agent away from a big market team that was at the goal line of signing him.
The New York Mets swooped in and offered Correa a 10-year, $315 million contract when his deal in San Francisco hit a snag.
That bested the Twins original offer to Correa by about $30 million for the same length of the contract.
New York made one final push to try and get Correa to stay, though. Steve Cohen modified his original offer and knocked it down to six years, $157.5 million. It also included a clause that required Correa to take physicals every season or risk the contract becoming voided with no further money owed.
Source: As part of Mets offer, Correa would have to take a annual physical which would guarantee the following year if passed. So 6/157.5 was conditional on him passing every annual physical. https://t.co/jNzFFI0qQz
— Michael Marino (@MarinoMLB) January 10, 2023
Let’s not forget about the Carlos Correa Giants contract offer
This was the one that started this whole fiasco back in December. Correa had that 10-year, $285 million offer from Minnesota on the table, but walked away from it to agree to a 13-year, $350 million offer from the Giants.
The rest was hardly history in the traditional sense but truly was historic.
Giants team doctors flagged Correa’s physical due to that aforementioned leg injury. It was rather unprecedented for a superstar free agent to have his monster contract held up by such an issue, and it allowed the Mets to capitalize by swooping in with their offer.
Amid all of the recent drama, one constant seems to have been the Giants disinterest in re-engaging with Correa. To be fair, San Francisco was investing a ton in Correa — both in terms of years and dollars — so it’s hard to blame them for taking an out when it presented itself.