Carlos Correa Makes Final Decision, re-signs with Minnesota Twins
Following almost three weeks of negotiations with the New York Mets, shortstop Carlos Correa is off the market after signing a six-year, $200 million dollar contract with the Minnesota Twins.
The signing ends one of the more interesting sagas in recent MLB offseason history which involves three separate teams over the course of the last month.
Correa ended the 2022 MLB season with a .291 average, 22 home runs and 64 RBI’s which at the time was his lone season with the Twins.
That came after having initially signed a three-year, $105.3 million dollar contract with the Twins last offseason.
It was widely speculated however that Correa would take his opt-out after the first year of the deal which he did to re-enter free agency.
Correa joined a stacked shortstop class in free agency which previously saw Xander Bogaerts sign with the San Diego Padres for $280 million and Trea Turner sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for $300 million.
It was believed that Correa would get close to the same deal this offseason and on Dec. 14 he surpassed all of them.
Correa and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350 million dollar contract.
Everything was right in the world, the Giants found their franchise cornerstone and Correa got the payday he was looking for, until it was time to take the physical.
Reports came out that the Giants and Correa had different opinions on the last physical and the future was uncertain for both parties.
That allowed a different team to swoop in just a week after the initial deal.
The New York Mets had already been having one of the best offseasons in the league with big deals issued to starting pitcher Justin Verlander and closer Edwin Diaz among others.
Owner Steve Cohen wasn’t done however as he saw an opportunity to make one more big splash and took it by signing Correa to a 12-year, $315 million dollar contract, or so we thought.
When the Mets agreed to the deal, they had never received the physical done with the Giants and thus had to do a physical of their own.
It didn’t take long for the Mets to have the same concerns as the Giants over an ankle injury that Correa had suffered while in the minors in 2014.
Excluding the COVID-19 season in 2020, Correa had played in 100 games or more in all but two seasons of his career.
Nonetheless, the Mets and Correa began re-negotiations and it became clear that when a new deal was agreed upon it would be for significantly less than the initial deal signed with the Mets.
At the start, the Mets were re-negotiating unopposed but then reports started coming out after the new year that other teams were reaching out to Correa’s agent Scott Boras.
One of those teams was the Minnesota Twins, who had never lost interest in Correa and received the physical done with the Giants.
Despite reports that the Mets were expected to reach an agreement at some point, the Twins sealed the deal and got their guy back.
Correa agreed to a new deal with the Minnesota Twins and with the physical being passed on Wednesday, it’s finally official.
The Mets weren’t too vocal after Correa’s decision with a 13-word statement:
“We were unable to reach an agreement. We wish Carlos all the best.”
The Mets’ final offer to Correa fell well short of what he ended up with in Minnesota as the first six years of his contract are all guaranteed.
Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
