Carlos Correa: Maybe This Isn't a Bad Thing

If Correa was 22, maybe we missed. At 29, I think it was a lucky miss.

Baseball = summer. I just like having it on. (TV, radio, app).

I'll follow along whether we win or lose. Pirahna's with an under $100 million payroll is fine with me.

This team, as constructed, is not a contender.  They are full of injury prone, unproven players.  There are some players with potential, but most of them are slow, plodding marginal corner outfielders or players without a position.  We can only bat 1 DH per game.  The pitching staff is a surgeon's dream...LOL.  At this point I need to see evidence in order to have confidence.

I commend you on writing a thoughtful article that is probably not popular. I agree with the article in it's entirety. Well done and brave ..

Despite the injuries and lack of games played and playing hurt; Buxton outperformed his contract.  Even at its top value of $15M/yr it is not a high-priced contract.

C4 if you take his contract solely as face value, ($$s and Years), then you are missing at least 50% of what C4 brings to the table.  Great article over on (cough cough since I am not a big fan of this site any more) ESPN about the long-term value that C4 will bring even as his playing declines.

"According to the study, the average cost for a family of four attending an MLB game is now $204.76. That price however does not only include four tickets, but also two beers, two sodas, four hot dogs, and parking."

Increased ticket sales x some % x $205 for family of 4 = C4 Ticket sales value.
Increased tales of jerseys & merch.
Increased TV revenue contract.

That's the easy stuff.

One of the most dialed and cerebral players in the league.  All that young talent the Twins have, you have a built-in extra bench coach.

He was worth 1 Win simply by telling, I think it was Ober, what to pitch to a single guy which led to the out.  I think it won the game for the Twins.

Proof that the Twins would pay for a FA that is worthy of their small market share $$s.  Nats had to do this, although not a small market but they were as the Expos, when they signed Jayson Werth for more than anyone in the league expected.  That got them Mad Max.

That said, C4 is a Giant for the next 13 years or until he allows himself to be traded.  

Let's take what we got, as you have pointed out, suck it up like we do when the Winds of January come howling out of the Arctic Circle and go defy expectations and do something.
 

I did not want Correa back. His salary would have been 20-25% of overall payroll. Too much, especially with Lewis hopefully coming back. Would have been blocked. I'm also fine with missing out on Rodan. Not a long enough track record, and to me not enough of an upgrade over current starters. We have around 7 who range from 2-4 type guys. I would have liked a real top end talent like Verlander on a 2 year contract. Or even Kershaw, had he been open to it. Specific to the line-up itself, I think a lot of people are forgetting the amount of injuries we had. It's a decent line-up when healthy. I'll take over this year, in terms of expectations.

Excellent article. However, the financial structure of MLB is completely broken as it does not create an even quasi-level playing field. How are the mid and small market teams supposed to compete when the Big Dogs get to acquire the very best players consistently?

So it becomes a "good thing" when the Twins don't resign an. elite player? But it's a move that will give the Giants a much better team for the next 5 years+ since they were able to afford to sign an elite player...

Sherry, I love your optimism, but I doubt they included everything but the kitchen sink as they were 65 million short--that would buy a lot of kitchen sinks :). According to Dan Hayes, they are now looking at Joey Gallo--a left handed hitting player who would be a huge improvement (?) over Larnach, Wallner or Kirilloff, and Justin Turner who had almost identical stats to Gio Urshela last year, but was one WAR short of him, but who would provide veteran leadership for Miranda, and probably only for an extra 3-5 million more than Urshela.   I love your articles--I am not being grumpy, just realistic.

27 minutes ago, jccracraft said:

I'm also fine with missing out on Rodan.

Godzilla would approve.

The twins did in fact short change correa if we look at it through the lens of what contracts are now going for in MLB. This offer probably wouldnt have gotten Carlos last year or the year before and it sure wasnt going to cut the mustard this year. 

Inflation is real folks 

I normally skip Sherry’s articles….should’ve skipped this one. “Rodon still looking for home” smh…hopefully it will be edited soon. 

I'm unhappy that we didn't ay the freight to get Correa and happy that we didn't really compete for Rodon (too injury prone). But please, let's stop complaining about Urshela. Nice guy, decent player, but a classic starter on a second division team who is a UTL/trade bait on a good team kind of guy. His defense is good as long as the ball is hit to him or a step or two either way. No range. That's why the Yankees moved him off SS, and then realized that his bat isn't good enough bat to augment his glove at an offense first position once MLB got rid of the juiced ball. He's not on the Yankees any more because he wasn't good enough for a team that expected to contend. Perfect for the Angels who won't really contend but don't want to rebuild. He'll help them get as high as 80-82 wins this year. Whopee! And let's not forget he's a FA in 2024. 

We traded Urshela to create room for a player that has a much higher offensive ceiling at 3B, while leaving 1B open for the reigning AL batting champ and/or Kirilloff who also has a much higher ceiling. Yes, both young players have a lower floor. Will this work? I say more likely yes than no but none of us know. These are the kind of moves the Twins have to make and risks they have to take to have a chance to get better. A team of Urshelas might win 80-85 games but it won't compete for anything else. This might work, it might not, but at least it's an attempt to get better. 

48 minutes ago, GNess said:

Excellent article. However, the financial structure of MLB is completely broken as it does not create an even quasi-level playing field. How are the mid and small market teams supposed to compete when the Big Dogs get to acquire the very best players consistently?

So it becomes a "good thing" when the Twins don't resign an. elite player? But it's a move that will give the Giants a much better team for the next 5 years+ since they were able to afford to sign an elite player...

This off season is a great example of why MLB needs both a salary cap, and a floor.  Contracts like this will ruin baseball if the trend continues of only the big markets being able to buy teams.  

With that said, it will be a good thing for the Giants for the next 5 years or so.  Then they will have an albatross contract that they can handle, but we would be in trouble having on the books.

54 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

They also lost Urshela, who had a great WPA and decent WAR.......and replaced him with no one so far. 

But hey - don't forget we still have Pagan.

Any team that would bind itself to a 13-year agreement with someone of Correa's age should be laughed out of the league.  Correa contributed significantly to the Twins last year, but no way is he worth any amount for 13 years, which is what the FO would've had to do to get Boras' attention.

I'll be patient.

Good reflections - Time for fans to stop obsessing over the high end FA and focus on the crappy low enders we sign like Gallo.  Let's get a team of good prospects and grow with them.