In one of the more surprising free agent signings of the MLB offseason, shortstop Carlos Correa has agreed to a 3 year $105.3M deal with the Minnesota Twins. The contract includes opt outs after the first two seasons.
The deal will see him earn $35.1M per season making him the 4th highest paid player in terms of AAV in the majors trailing only Scherzer, Cole and Trout. The 2017 World Series champion now joins a Twins squad that finished last in the AL Central with a 73-89 record in 2021.
The signing seems peculiar on the surface as it was reported that a number of contending teams, including the New York Yankees, had been deep in talks with Correa leading up to the announcement.
The shortstop is coming off one of his best seasons to date hitting .279, with 92RBIs and a career best 26HRs and 104 runs scored. Correa also won his first Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, made the All-Star Game, and finished 5th in AL MVP voting.
Correa generated a tremendous amount of interest when he first hit free agency, however front office priorities seem to have shifted of late shrinking the righty’s pool of suitors. Ultimately the former Astro gets his big money payday, but could be sacrificing a chance at another World Series in the process.
Minnesota has yet to win a postseason series since 2002, and hasn’t been back to the World Series since they won it all in 1991. That being said, the Twins have been one of the more active teams on the trade and free agent front since the new CBA was ratified.
In addition to bringing in Correa, the Twins have also traded for RHP Sonny Gray, catcher Gary Sanchez, and 3B Gio Urshela. The franchise also inked Dylan Bundy to a 1 year deal prior to the shutdown last year in an attempt to overhaul their roster for 2022.
Minnesota finds itself in a unique position in the AL Central as Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City find themselves in similar circumstances in terms of roster construction. Meaning it’s not altogether inconceivable to see the Twins leapfrog multiple teams this year in the standings.
Evidently the Minnesota front office felt that adding a former rookie of the year shortstop to the mix would bolster their chances of competing in the immediate future. It also avoids locking themselves into a big money long term contract similar to what we’ve seen players like Kris Bryant or Freddie Freeman ink recently.
Minnesota opens their regular season on April 7th against the Seattle Mariners.
Photo: Eric Enfermero. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.