It might seem that the historic collapse at the end of last season sent Minnesota Twins fans into a death spiral, but they've been there far longer than a few months. The angst goes back a year to last winter when the team was deeply unserious about parlaying the good vibes and even better baseball being played into taking another step toward contending for a World Series.
The Twins chsaing the most successful postseason run in almost two decades by slashing the payroll bordered on parody but it was a reality Twins fans were trapped in all year. It ultimately helped accelerate one of the worst meltdowns in baseball history when, in less than a month, Minnesota went from a near-90 percent chance of making the postseason to crashing out and finishing the season in fourth place.
Something else that was accelerated was that death spiral fans have been trapped in, as it led to reckless speculation that Carlos Correa would be traded this winter to save money. Nobody can be blamed for the Pavlovian response everyone had, it sadly lines up with how the Pohlad's have run the team for decades, but it seems everything simply got blown way out of proportion.
Carlos Correa trade speculation was 'overblown' during the Winter Meetings
Twins beat writer Bobby Nightengale noted that club officials indicated that everything was a bit overblown and that the front office was apparently telling other teams that there's no desire to shop Correa.
If that wasn't enough, Correa's agent Scott Boras cleared the air on their end about there being any desire for a trade.
“The last time I talked to him, he told me the fishing was good. So, yeah, he’s happy ," Boras told the Star Tribune.
That should settle it, but it probably won't. Correa is the biggest contract one of the most frugal franchises in baseball has on the books so there will always be someone trying to cook up some speculation. It won't be the Twins, though, as this should seemingly put to rest the idea that the team will be moving him anytime soon.
If anything, the real takeaway here is that despite everything -- the non-seriousness of ownership to the reckless speculation -- Correa is still completely bought in.
He's still one of the best players in baseball when he's fully healthy, which is something we all got a glimpse of over the summer when he went on his historic heater. If he wanted to, Correa could play out the rest of his contract somewhere else by demanding a trade and a team would pay it to help get closer to a World Series; the money is not what is keeping him in Minnesota.
He wants to be here, which is an endorsement the Twins have done nothing to deserve. Correa has proven to be a game-changing leader in the past, like when he proved he was worth every penny of his contract during the ALDS back in 2023. Once again we're seeing the value he brings beyond the diamond, as Correa shrugging off all of the general awfulness surrounding the team is the surest sign that things might be about to turn around next season.
Things can always change, but here's to hoping this is a sign that it will finally be for the better.
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