STUNNER: Carlos Correa Agrees to Terms with Minnesota Twins

[John Bonnes]

Third time's a charm?

The Minnesota Twins, against all odds, have come to an agreement with superstar shortstop Carlos Correa on six-year contract per ESPN's Jeff Passan. The deal brings to a close one of the oddest free-agent pursuits in MLB history and represents a financial commitment greater than any the historically frugal Twins have offered.

Carlos Correa's wild offseason journey has led to agreements with both the Giants and Mets that fell through over concerns about his physical. Now, it has led him back to where he started. 

This time last year, Correa was one of the top names on the free agent market, so much so that he reportedly turned down a 10-year, $270M offer. However, he had to wait out MLB’s lockout, which is when he switched agents to Scott Boras. The market for superstars was less robust when the lockout ended in early March. So, he opted to sign a three-year deal with the Minnesota Twins for $35.1M per year, but the contract also allowed him to opt out after each of the first two years.

That agreement couldn’t have worked out better for both parties. Correa thrived offensively and defensively, becoming the Twins MVP and earning rave reviews for his leadership and mentorship. He opted out of his contract, again positioned as one of the top free agents available. 

But the usually thrifty Twins declared their intention to pursue him, eventually offering a 10-year $285M contract. Alas, that appeared to be nowhere near enough. Correa agreed to a deal with the San Francisco Giants for 13 years and $350M, but that deal fell apart a week later when the Giants expressed concerns about a plate in Correa’s right leg from a 2014 injury. 

It didn’t take long for Correa to find another suitor. The same night, he agreed to a 12-year deal with New York Mets' owner Steve Cohen for $315M. However, shortly thereafter, the Mets had a similar concern, jeopardizing that deal.

Correa and the Mets worked on resolving that concern for more than two weeks, with varying levels of optimism that a deal would get done. Thursday night, that optimism was shaken when Jon Heyman revealed that Boras had engaged with at least one other team. The talks stalled when the two sides could not agree on language protecting the Mets if Correa’s career or production were cut short due to the old injury. Lenient terms on a team opt-out midway through a 12-year deal can quickly turn a guaranteed contract into a not-so-guaranteed contract.

Enter the Twins. They had re-engaged with a similar contract to the one they previously offered, though the guaranteed amount is unclear. Also, while Correa's old injury surely could provide some concerns, they had the advantage of having already observed Correa and his right leg up close for the last year. Their offer was less dependent on a physical, a key component Boras needed before walking away from the Mets’ offer. 

It was unclear to the Twins whether they were truly a serious contender or were being used as leverage for Boras against the Mets. Correa may have enjoyed his time with the Twins, but the Mets have a loaded roster, an owner willing to spend whatever it takes, and the City that Never Sleeps. Were the Twins just being used to drive up the dollars? Or to get the Mets to bend on contract language regarding the opt-out? Or did they really have a chance to land Correa?

The Twins and Boras traded multiple offers over the weekend, and confidence their status varied from hour to hour and executive to executive. They knew that Boras was also doing the same with the Mets, and it should be obvious that negotiations with the super agent Boras can be intense. Several times, the pendulum swung from “optimistic” to “pessimistic” and back again, even over the last 24 hours. 

With that said, this is obviously a stunning turn of events in terms of optics. The Mets and Giants are among the most free-spending, impulsive, uninhibited franchises in baseball regarding free agency. The Twins are on the exact opposite end of that spectrum.

Correa has quickly become one of the most publicized high-risk free agents at this level of caliber/price we've ever seen. Minnesota's front office – despite its litany of existing injury concerns – said ‘screw it’ and bypassed the inhibitions that held back big-market titans. Why? Because they feel the shortstop is everything their team needs to take the next step.

The only times the Twins have even approached swimming in waters this deep financially was when they were previously faced with losing longtime Twins fixtures like Kirby Puckett, Joe Mauer, and Byron Buxton. In 1992, Puckett was the top free agent on the market but re-signed with the Twins for 5 years and $30M. In 2010, entering his last year of team control, Mauer agreed to an 8-year, $184 million contract extension to stay with the team. Finally, last year, also entering his final year of team control, Buxton agreed to a 7-year, $100M contract with almost another $100M in possible incentives.

While Correa was with the team for only one year, he has this in common with those players: the organization didn’t want to lose him. 

Correa's impact on the team was clearly evident in 2022, when he put forth stellar production on the field and earned rave reviews of his wide-reaching impact on the organization. He’s a Gold Glove caliber defender at a premium position. He’s averaged 28 home runs over 162 games while getting on base at a .359 clip. He’s also just 28 years old, entering the prime of his career. Like those previous players, he is now positioned to be the face of the Twins franchise. 

In terms of his future fit, obviously, Correa is lined up to play shortstop for now, which pushes Kyle Farmer into more of a utility role while giving Royce Lewis plenty of time to work his way back from knee surgery. It's interesting that the Mets were planning to immediately shift Correa to third base (and he seemed totally open to it), so that could be the plan somewhere down the line for Minnesota. 

But as a 28-year-old former Platinum Glover still fielding short at a high level, there's no rush for now. The Twins got their shortstop. And more than that, they got their guy and turned around a wayward offseason with the biggest and boldest contract in franchise history.

The Twins are in it to win it. Let's go.

 

View full article

[sun]

Yahoo! Both Correa & the Twins are betting on themselves! It must be the new uniforms.

[luckylager]

Yay!

[Battle ur tail off]

Wow! Any chance his physical holds it up with us also? "Pending physical".

[CRF]

I literally just saw this on another sports site, as breaking news. Tell you what...I'll believe it when the physical is done, and he signs the deal. This whole situation has been a real mess. 

[Mike Sixel]

Stunned. Absolutely shocked they're spending this much money. I'm all for it. 

[Dman]

So just how bad was that Mets deal?  200M over 6 years all of his prime years is the best deal I could have imagined.  If he meets the vesting option add another 4 years at 70M Absolutely perfect.  Am I dreaming?  Why would the Mets or Giants not do this deal?  They don't want the high AAV?  This sets the Twins up to give out larger contracts if some of the young players turn into stars or superstars.  Like I said I couldn't imagine a more perfect deal for the Twins.  Correa just needs to stay healthy and bring that 4 WAR a year or so and he will really, really, help this team.

[James]

There's a guy on Reddit that is going to have to watch a few bad movies and eat some terrible stuff if this contract actually gets signed.

[Battle ur tail off]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

Stunned. Absolutely shocked they're spending this much money. I'm all for it. 

Yes, and shows they are all in with he and Buxton, Miranda, and the young pitchers as our core. Now was as good a time as any with all these young guys filling the roster for cheap. Let's hope that pitching staff can develop or they go out at some point in the next 1-3 years and add that top of the rotation stud. 

[Unwinder]

When the offseason started, I thought there was a good chance that the Twins would lock Correa down, but I never dreamed that it would somehow be a bigger stunner than last offseason's Correa signing.

[James]

1 minute ago, CRF said:

I literally just saw this on another sports site, as breaking news. Tell you what...I'll believe it when the physical is done, and he signs the deal. This whole situation has been a real mess. 

The previous rumors indicated that the deal would not be contingent on a physical. But I'm with you, I'm excited now, but I won't be fully celebrating until his pen touches the paper.

[DJL44]

Twins pick up a solid piece shopping the scratch-and-dent 20% off sale

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Cheap Polhads!

[Aggies7]

Of all the dramatic things I’ve ever seen

[nicksaviking]

This is nuts, and I'm all for it.

I bet this worked out due to the pretty crazy AAV of those first six years. The Mets and other big clubs liked those long term deals to stretch out the payments, but the Twins did have one thing going for them in that they had next to no payroll commitments for the next several years. The high AAV upfront worked out for them.

[Dave Overlund]

5 minutes ago, Dman said:

 Why would the Mets or Giants not do this deal?  

This is the main question I am asking... Those negotiations with the Mets and Giants must have gotten nasty! 

[brockbesler]

Wow… I don’t know what else to say!

[terrydactyls]

I have a question for those of you that know more than I do about the weird-a$$ financial/payroll rules using Correa as an example.  If Correa were to suffer a career-ending injury in year 3 of the contract, the Twins are still liable for the remaining $33M/year until the six years are complete.  This is correct, isn't it?  But does that $33M still count towards the luxury tax even though Correa is no longer in baseball?  (I understand that the Twins will never have to worry about the luxury tax.  This just a question for a curious mind.)

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, terrydactyls said:

I have a question for those of you that know more than I do about the weird-a$$ financial/payroll rules using Correa as an example.  If Correa were to suffer a career-ending injury in year 3 of the contract, the Twins are still liable for the remaining $33M/year until the six years are complete.  This is correct, isn't it?  But does that $33M still count towards the luxury tax even though Correa is no longer in baseball?  (I understand that the Twins will never have to worry about the luxury tax.  This just a question for a curious mind.)

Yes. Yes. 

[Vanimal46]

This is a move that salvaged what was going to be a terrible offseason. It truly couldn’t have worked out better. Our top of the order bat and elite fielding SS is back! 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Simply astounding.

[James]

4 minutes ago, Alex Schieferdecker said:

Cheap Polhads!

I mean, come on.  They couldn't even pay the dude $300M?

(I was almost about to make this same post). 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

13 minutes ago, John Bonnes said:

Also, while Correa's old injury surely could provide some concerns, they had the advantage of having already observed Correa and his right leg up close for the last year.

Hi John, 

The reaggravation happened in September. This reads like editorializing that contradicts reporting by Dan Hayes: 

Even though the Twins performed an exit exam on Correa in October, those are often limited to areas of concern that arose during a player’s regular-season visits to the trainer’s room. Aside from an incident in May when Correa thought he broke his finger, team sources indicated the shortstop never set foot in the trainer’s room, not even after he writhed in pain on the ground after a hard slide into second base in a Sept. 20 contest at Kansas City. 

After that game, Correa acknowledged he had a metal plate inserted in his right leg, the result of an injury that occurred when he was in the minor leagues in 2014.

“He just hit my plate,” Correa said, referring to the hardware in his leg. “I had surgery and he hit it. Just kind of felt numb. Vibrating. So I was just waiting for it to calm down. It was a little scary, but when I moved I knew I was good.”

 

[Mike Sixel]

I know most won't agree, but I think this means they aren't dealing Kepler, unless it's part of a deal for an impact starter. They are all in.

[Minny505]

10 minutes ago, Battle ur tail off said:

Wow! Any chance his physical holds it up with us also? "Pending physical".

I've never heard it mentioned, but I wonder if the physical last year was enough to go on to feel comfortable the team can actually ink this one. 

I get that the ankle was not a concern on a three year deal, but can it be used as a base for a six year deal? Still need the physical of course, but it seems like the Twins knew ahead of time what they were getting themselves into when they agreed on this.

[MN_ExPat]

3 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

I have a question for those of you that know more than I do about the weird-a$$ financial/payroll rules using Correa as an example.  If Correa were to suffer a career-ending injury in year 3 of the contract, the Twins are still liable for the remaining $33M/year until the six years are complete.  This is correct, isn't it?  But does that $33M still count towards the luxury tax even though Correa is no longer in baseball?  (I understand that the Twins will never have to worry about the luxury tax.  This just a question for a curious mind.)

I believe that it does still count towards Tax threshold.

[PseudoSABR]

 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

So.... slow day.  Anybody got any news to report?

[Vanimal46]

 

[MMMordabito]

Correa thought he was a Dior product, but he's really a Best Buy open-box-item.

 

Edit:  Looks like I was kinda ninja'd by DJL44