Carlos Correa breaks silence over drama with Giants and Mets physicals
By Josh Hill
Carlos Correa is a Minnesota Twin, again.
The star shortstop made his $200 million contract with the Twins official on Wednesday, ending one of the most bizarre and dramatic free agent journeys we’ve ever seen. Correa had a combined value of over $600 million in contracts pulled due to concerns over his medicals, something that allowed the Twins to circle back and reel him in.
Correa was officially introduced — or more accurately re-introduced — with the Twins on Wednesday afternoon, which allowed him to finally break his silence over the whole ordeal regarding his physicals with the Giants and Mets.
The Twins shortstop said he was shocked that the injury he suffered back when he was a minor leaguer with the Astros caused such a stir with team doctors for two different organizations.
Carlos Correa comments on drama with Mets, Giants physicals
Twins beat writer Betsy Helfand was at the Correa press conference and passed along what Correa said. He didn’t dwell on the past, but made sure to include something about what had happened while reintroducing himself to the Minnesota media.
Correa: "It was shocking to me because since I had the surgery, I never missed a game."
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) January 11, 2023
Said one thing he learned throughout the entire process was that doctors have different opinions.
When the Twins were mentioned as being back in the fold late last week, an ace up their sleeve seemed to be the fact that the team didn’t really care about the concerns that Giants and Mets doctors had.
Minnesota knew about his leg issue when the team was trying to negotiate a deal with him last season, one that ended up being a one-year deal that served as a sample of what life with Correa might be like.
All throughout the process, and especially when the drama kicked up in December, the Twins were pegged as the team most likely to disregard concerns over this ankle injury and see past it enough to make a deal.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
How Correa’s ankle ages is yet to be seen, but that’s part of the gamble. What matters is the Twins have a potential future Hall of Famer at shortstop and have a significant piece of their core locked in for the next six years.
When all is said and done, Correa might end up spending 11 seasons with the Twins — longer than his tenure with the Astros and enough time to have his career remembered as a great Twins player more than a guy who came here in free agency. This is unprecedented for Minnesota, and it’s something that is worth gambling where two other ballclubs balked and froze.