Carlos Correa Lost $150 Million in a Month

Carlos Correa’s free agency saga appears to have finally wound to a conclusion. The 28-year-old All-Star agreed to a deal to return to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday after previous agreements with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets fell apart following physical examinations. His new contract will span six years and be worth $200 million (though it could reach $270 million with a vesting option). On the face of things, Correa lost $150 million in a month.

Correa has had one of the weirdest offseasons in MLB history. Back on December 13, the Giants and Correa announced an agreement on a 13-year, $350 million contract. A week later an introductory press conference was postponed after the team was concerned with his physical. A leg injury that was surgically-repaired years ago was at issue. On December 21, the Mets announced they had signed Correa to a 12-year, $315 million deal. A few days later that deal was put in limbo due to concerns about the same injury.

Correa refused to rework his agreement with the Mets. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the leverage he seemed to believe he did. The two teams were at a stalemate for weeks when the Twins swooped in.

The deal is for far less top-end money than Correa’s previous two agreements. But given he signed a free agent deal with the Twins last offseason, the physical shouldn’t be a problem. Minnesota has already been under the hood and knows what’s going on with his body.

Perhaps more depression for Correa, he opted out of the final two years of his deal with the Twins on November 7. He would have been paid $70.2 million over the next two seasons. His average salary of $35.1 million a year will drop to $33.3 million under the new agreement. That’s still nothing to complain about, but he could have had more and been able to hit free agency again sooner had he stuck with his original deal. He opted out seeking a 10-plus year contract worth more than $300 million. He didn’t end up with anything close to that.

Correa had a nice year with the Twins in 2022. He slashed .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs in 136 games. His 4.4 fWAR was the third-best of his eight-year career. And there is more in the tank.

Maybe this winds up being the best move for Correa. But he’s going to be making far less than he thought a few weeks ago.