The possibility of a stunning reunion between Carlos Correa and the twins is growing, team sources said Monday night.
With the status of the mega deal he agreed with the New York Mets last month still pending, the Twins are suddenly back in the mix for the free-agent shortstop. Two club sources said on Monday that talks between the twins and Correa have started to accelerate. A separate major league source also confirmed the development.
Conversations are fluid, and the Mets aren’t necessarily out of the bid. But 19 days have passed since the Mets agreed Correa to a 12-year, $315 million contract pending a physical. The Mets, like the San Francisco Giants before them, were concerned about the condition of Correa’s right ankle during their medical exam. As the parties continue to negotiate contract language, Correa’s agent Scott Boras reached out to other teams, including the Twins.
In November, Correa canceled the three-year, $105.3 million deal he signed with the Twins in March 2022. Still, the club haven’t been shy about wanting to keep Correa, who struggled with .291/.366/.467 on 22 home runs, 64 RBIs and produced 4.9 wins over the reserve last season.
Carlos Correa will be introduced by the twins in March 2022 along with President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey. (Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)
Minnesota’s initial effort, which included a 10-year, $285 million offer, fell through when Correa agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract with the Giants on Dec. 14. A week after signing with San Francisco, the deal fell through over a disagreement over Correa’s physical exam. The Mets’ deal quickly stalled for the same reason.
Despite those concerns, Boras and the Mets have been trying to figure out a way to bring the two-time All-Star shortstop to New York. Correa was originally so thrilled to hear the Mets signed him last month that he threw Boras onto a hotel bed during a celebration.
However, the twins have remained in constant contact with Boras, sources said, which has created a potential landing spot should Correa’s deal with the Mets fall through.
All along, the Twins expected Correa and the Mets to finalize their agreement, but Twins baseball operations president Derek Falvey had his club on standby just in case.
While sources said the Twins always knew a big club could “blow them out of the water” with a bigger deal, the team made it clear they were keen on bringing Correa back and were open to getting creative with that Potential for exits and other protections in a store.
Last March, Boras praised the Twins’ front office for their creativity as the two sides drafted the original deal for Correa within 14 hours. The twins also gained experience putting together stimulus deals after securing a seven-year, $100 million extension for often-injured midfielder Byron Buxton in December 2021, a deal worth up to $10 million in annual performance awards US Dollars included based on field retention.
While the twins definitely want to do their own physical with Correa, the team already have a feel for his overall condition after conducting a thorough physical last March.
Although the twins conducted a final exam on Correa in October, these are often limited to problem areas that have arisen during a player’s regular season visits to the coaching room. Aside from one incident in May when Correa thought he’d broken his finger, team sources said the shortstop never set foot in the coach’s room, not even after he dropped to second base after a hard slide was writhing on the floor in pain at a competition on September 20 in Kansas City.
After that game, Correa admitted he had a metal plate implanted in his right leg, the result of an injury he picked up while he was in the lower 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 felt kind of numb. vibrant. So I just waited for it to calm down. It was a little scary, but as soon as I moved I knew I was good.”
Aside from the finger that cost him 12 games and a battle with COVID-19 in late May that resulted in eight games missed, Correa has been quite durable for the twins. He appeared in 136 of the remaining 142 games and was a fixture in the lineup of a Twins team that suffered injury after injury throughout the season.
The twins loved what Correa brought them in their only season together, a mix of swagger and baseball experience. And now, in another stunning twist, they’re able to come full circle with the Correa saga, back to Minnesota.
(Top Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)