Royce Lewis Injury/Should We Really Pay Correa?

[WhenWillWeBeatNY]

The more I think about the more the Royce Lewis injury has affected this off-season. If Lewis would have stayed healthy our off-season would have a lot easier decisions. 

Before the injury Lewis played 12 games 40 at-bats hitting .300 with 2 HR, 4 doubles, and 5 RBI’s. Obviously he was doing amazing and proving why he was the Twins #1 draft pick. Now would he have kept up that production for the rest of the season? We couldn’t find out and that’s the issue. 
 

If Lewis was able to play a full season and do well then maybe we don’t even care about signing Correa because we have a SS for the future. Or we do still go after a SS and move Lewis to 2nd and trade Polanco. Or maybe Lewis does terrible last year and shows why we should pay Correa a ton of money. Either way now we are stuck in this in between of which way we should go. Personally I love Correa and he definitely seems to help other teammates. He is a guy that will lead you to the playoffs and be a force in the World Series and he has the experience. That being said he is gonna cost a ton and we have many other prospects coming up for IF spots (Royce Lewis, Austin Martin, Eduardo Julien, Brooks Lee). We don’t want to block these guys out especially if they prove they are major stars. There is also the risk that Correa could regress and we don’t want to be stuck in a bad contract. 
 

To sum up if only Royce Lewis would have stayed healthy :( and should we really re-sign Correa/ What is the max price you would be willing to pay Correa? 

[AceWrigley]

I know this doesn't solve anything, but Houston let Correa walk and they still won the World Series. Just sayin'.

[wsnydes]

I'm pretty confident that Correa was essentially signed as a stopgap for Lewis.  If he decided to stick around, that's a problem I'd definitely endure and try to figure out.  Lewis' injury definitely complicated this offseason.  While I think he'll return and be just fine, there's no guarantee that Lewis is ever the same.  He looked the part in the field and with the bat, but I don't think we've got a large enough sample to say that he's arrived.  I'm not really worried about that though, he certainly looked the part.

All that said, this team still needs a SS until Lewis comes back.  I think it makes sense to go after any of the top 4 SS's and deal with Lewis's return when it happens.  Sometimes issues work themselves out.

[wsnydes]

7 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

I know this doesn't solve anything, but Houston let Correa walk and they still won the World Series. Just sayin'.

The guy they had behind him was ready and healthy though.  Not to mention Gold Glove caliber.  That's not the case here.

[Doctor Gast]

Wow, WWWBNY! You brought up a topic that I was seriously thinking about. I am advid supporter of bringing CC back to MN. But when I heard Nash Walker said that if we get CC, we could put Lewis as utility he could play ......... CF!

If they hadn't played Lewis in CF to begin with, we wouldn't be in this situation. Lewis would continue to be our promising '23 starting SS. Yes Lewis had a great profile of playing CF & he even had Hunter as a personal mentor, but then his accident happened. IMO to even think of Lewis playing CF  to begin with is crazy but to continue to consider it after his reinjury is absolute lunacy. I got blow by saying this before saying that CF isn't any dangerous than any other position. Then why did they stop playing Arraez in LF because of his knees, even when there is no danger of Arraez running into the wall? like Lewis.

I believe Nash has a pulse of the FO and there is great danger that the FO could very well put Lewis back in CF which could very well end his career as a Twin. Therefore I'm changing my position of signing CC to finding an adequate stop gap for Lewis. As much as it pains me to say that.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

there is great danger that the FO could very well put Lewis back in CF which could very well end his career as a Twin.

I was one of the few that said not to put Lewis in CF for the Twins UNLESS they play him there in the minors. This was the worst decision the front office made in 2022. They played Lewis in CF with the Saints only a couple games and kept playing him at SS. That being said, with 20-30 games in CF with the Saints, I think Lewis would be a very good CF. If the Twins sign Correa, Lewis will be in the OF and will play CF when Buxton isn't playing IMO. Position him deep in CF so he doesn't crash into walls. He has the speed to charge up and make catches.

[mnfireman]

After re-watching the play that he got hurt on, I don't think being in CF is the reason he got hurt. It looked to me like he got hurt immediately upon landing after the catch, something that could very well have happened to him as a SS chasing a liner out to short LF or CF, or possibly even on the base paths after awkwardly rounding second or third. I could be wrong though, just my $.02. 

[Nashvilletwin]

Even if Lewis is healthy you still pay up for Correa. No brainer.

2024 starting infield is Lewis (3B), Correa (SS), Lee (2B), Arraez (1B) and Miranda (DH and primary utility infielder). Those five players should essentially be in the lineup every day.

That infield has decent defense, a good mix of hitting for power, average and OBP, and great interchangeability/flexibility. Oh, and even with Correa and Arraez, it’s very affordable.

 

[gman]

The fact is nobody paid Correa what he wanted last year, why pay even more this year. He's a year older with a year more wear on his legs. He is not fast and will need to cover even more territory in the shortstop area than he needed the past couple of years with extreme shifting. Remember he help on the second base side, but he got even more help on the shortstop side. I think the last point combined with the high salary is why Houston let him go. In three years I don't think he is able to cover the shortstop area adequately.