Carlos Correa officially returned to the Twins on Wednesday, putting an end to one of the most bizarre free-agency sagas in baseball history.
By now, the 28-year-old shortstop’s journey has been well documented. He first agreed to sign with the Giants for 13 years and $350 million, a deal that fell apart after Correa failed a physical due to an injury to his lower right leg that was surgically repaired in 2014 (when he was still in the minors). The Mets swooped in hours later and reached a 12-year, $312 million agreement with Correa, only for their doctors to show concern over the same injury. Three weeks later, he was reintroduced at a press conference in Minnesota after signing a six-year, $200 million contract with built-in vesting and club options that could keep him in the Twin Cities for the next decade. His first foray into free agency last year earned him a three-year, $105.3 million deal with Minnesota, largely because the lockout interrupted the ’21–22 offseason and stunted his market.
The player the Twins wanted more than any other has fallen into their laps at a relatively affordable rate, for the second straight offseason. It’s not all that difficult to imagine a scenario in which they make the playoffs in 2023: Sure, considering the number of wild-card contenders in other American League divisions, Minnesota’s path to the postseason is probably limited to winning the AL Central, but it isn’t as far off as you’d expect a team that finished 78–84 to be.
