Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Carlos Correa’s new nine-figure deal is pending a physical exam. This week, that’s the Twins’ responsibility; if they have questions about the process, they can ask the Giants, Correa’s team from Dec. 13 to Dec. 21, or the Mets, Correa’s team from Dec. 21 until midday Tuesday. In the past 29 days, the shortstop has signed with 10% of Major League Baseball. Correa, 28, must have spent more time in an MRI tube than with his family over the holidays.
But perhaps this will be the deal that sticks: reportedly six years for $200 million guaranteed, plus four vesting options that could bring the total to 10 years for $270 million. That comes on the heels of the 13-year, $350 million deal the Giants offered, then revoked once they got the results of Correa’s physical, and the 12-year, $315 million deal the Mets offered, then revoked once they got the results of Correa’s physical. Those teams have not been specific about their concerns, but they seem to stem from a broken right leg Correa suffered as a 19-year-old minor leaguer in 2014. He had the leg surgically repaired and a metal plate inserted, and he has not gone on the injured list because of it since, but in September he said he felt the plate vibrate on a hard slide into second base.
At first it seemed Correa’s winter would proceed straightforwardly. He became one of the best players in the game with the Astros but did not receive the kind of long-term offer he desired in his first foray into free agency, a year ago. He signed with the Twins for three years and $105.3 million with an opt-out after each year, and after posting an .834 OPS in 2022, he exercised the first one.
The Giants, who had just lost the Aaron Judge bidding to the Yankees, blew away the field with their offer shortly after the winter meetings. Correa shopped for houses in San Francisco and the Giants scheduled a press conference for Dec. 20. But three hours before it was scheduled to begin, they canceled it; they had seen the results of Correa’s physical and had decided to pull their original offer. They wanted to renegotiate; Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, instead decided to negotiate with the rest of the league.
He texted Mets owner Steve Cohen, who had recently expressed some disappointment that he had only at the last minute inserted himself into the Correa sweepstakes, that “Correa-mas” had come early. Cohen, on vacation in Hawaii, negotiated with Boras into the night; by the morning of Dec. 21, they had a deal.
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The next day, Boras said, “There is no current issue with Carlos’s health whatsoever.” He added, “All the conjecture and evaluation of him has been about, you know, physicians using their crystal ball for years to come.” But evidently the Mets did not like what their crystal ball showed, either; Correa failed his physical, and the Mets have spent the past two and a half weeks trying to add language to the contract that would protect them if Correa’s right leg prevented him from continuing the excellent career that has made him so attractive for a long-term deal in the first place. They reportedly offered him six years for $157.5 million guaranteed—half the original terms—with the final six years dependent on his health.
The whole time, the Twins had lurked. They had initially offered Correa a 10-year deal worth $285 million; as talks broke down with the Giants and then the Mets, they declined to raise it, and indeed in the end they lowered it. But their guarantee of $33.3 million per year for six years beat the Mets’ offer of $26.25 annually. He said he enjoyed his time in Minneapolis last year, and the team raved about his leadership. His health makes him a risk, and the small-market Twins can ill afford to be wrong. But only under bizarre circumstances such as these would they have access to a player of this caliber on a deal they can afford. If center fielder Byron Buxton can stay healthy and utility man Luis Arraez, who won the batting title last year, can continue to play at an All-Star level, the Twins could find their way into the playoffs. Suddenly winter in Minneapolis does not feel quite so cold.
At least, until next week, when Correa signs with his next team.
