Carlos Correa has been the talk of the town in the past 14 months since he first became a free agent.
And either way, his signing to Minnesota came as a surprise.
The difference between the two times? The first time around, the Houston Astros wanted to retain the shortstop. But this year? He had no chance of signing in Texas.
Why? Because Jeremy Pena took advantage of the absence of Correa (who was his mentor) to settle in Houston and smash everything in the playoffs.
But what’s interesting to note is that the first time around, the Astros were laughed at for only offering Correa $160 million over five years. It was laughable when we saw that he signed his $350 million contract with the Giants a few weeks ago…
But now that the Twins have finally had him at $200 million over six years, one wonders if he was right to leave Houston.
In fact, if he had signed last year in Houston, he would have earned $32 million per year over five years. He would be a year out and become a free agent after his 32-year season, which is relatively young in baseball for a star.
Who knows at what price the stars will be paid there?
And in addition, he would have stayed with his friends, who have just won the World Series without him. And the Astros might have traded Jeremmy Pena for big reinforcements…
But instead, he hired Scott Boras in the midst of a labor dispute and he wanted to move to GO.
On the other hand, it made $35.1 million last year and it will make, on average, $33.3 million for the next six years. That’s more money, but the Twins missed the playoffs in 2022.
And above all, he will be a free agent after his 34-year-old season, on the eve of his 35th birthday… if he is not healthy. If he’s healthy, the Twins will keep him for less money with each passing year.
That benefits the Twins, that.
When I told you that I liked the contract for the Twins, who showed patience to sign the player they wanted while limiting the long-term risks…
Of course, this is just an analysis of the numbers. Maybe Correa wanted to get out of Houston to get away from the signal-stealing scandal or for some other reason, but my point is this: the Astros’ offer, in hindsight, wasn’t if crazy than that.
And maybe it could have been bumped up, that offer from the Astros…
But OK. Right now everyone is happy since the Astros have their cheap man and the Twins have their man too. All’s well That ends well…
Except for the Giants… and also for the Mets, who were too fearful and wanted to see Correa take a physical test every year (which had the power to compromise the contract) to check the condition of his famous ankle.
- Profits of $10.8 billion? MLB is healthy.
- The Twins want arms.
- Adam Duvall: logic to link him to the Yankees?
