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Sometimes during the offseason (and I’ve done it here myself), we like to post tweet updates showing the wild and wacky path taken by minor league players bouncing from team to team via DNF and signing.
Well, I don’t think anyone expected the wildest ride of free agency to belong to Carlos Correa. We’ve talked about the rumor mill, the last-minute sudden signing in San Francisco, the about-face to sign with the Mets, and after both of those two signings fell through thanks to some mystery in Correa’s physical, he is right back where he started, on the cusp of signing a deal with the Minnesota Twins. What might be most fascinating about this is while the length of Correa’s offered contracts keeps going down, he AAV keeps going up.
The Carlos Correa story:
— Kelsey Wingert-Linch (@KelsWingert) January 10, 2023
Nov. 7- opts out of MIN contract (2 yrs, $70.2M)
Dec. 13- agrees to 13 yrs, $350M ($26.9M AAV) w/ SF
Dec. 21- agrees to 12 yrs, $315M ($26.2M AAV) w/ NYM
Jan. 10- agrees to 6 yrs, $200M ($33.3M AAV) w/ MIN can max out at $270M w/ vesting option)
WOW.
And Ken Rosenthal breaks down how this new deal with the Twins looks year by year.
Correa breakdown, per source:
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2023
$36M, $36M, $36M, $31.5M, $30.5M, $30M.
Numbers the first two years include $8M signing bonus, half to be paid in ‘23, half in ‘24.
Now the only interesting thing to watch for: will the physical be an issue here? Because there’s also this very interesting tidbit about a reduced offer from the Mets contingent on his ongoing health:
Source: As part of Mets offer, Correa would have to take a annual physical which would guarantee the following year if passed. So 6/157.5 was conditional on him passing every annual physical. https://t.co/jNzFFI0qQz
— Michael Marino (@MarinoMLB) January 10, 2023
Let’s move on to the rest of today’s links.
- Tough news here for the Red Sox.
Trevor Story underwent UCL surgery with an internal brace on his right elbow -- in other words, modified Tommy John surgery with a quicker return date.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2023
Generally speaking, players miss four to six months following the surgery.
- Nick Selbe has more on Story’s pending surgery.
- Who might the Red Sox be eyeing as a potential replacement? (MLB)
- Just how much did Joe Kelly win playing fantasy football? The Parkins and Spiegel Show found out.
- Minor league owners are starting to worry what the financial burden on them will be following collective bargaining. Story by Evan Drellich. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Ben Clemens looks at Carlos Correa’s potential homecoming.
- Stephanie Apstein tries to make sense of the bizarre journey that Correa took to go nowhere this offseason.
- Jay Jaffe assesses J.J. Hardy’s Hall of Fame chances.
- Jim Bowden makes his case for Andruw Jones. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- On that note, The Athletic Staff have revealed who they voted for. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Will Leitch tries to predict the next 10 World Series champs.
- Former Yankees captains weigh in on what Aaron Judge can expect in the role. Story by Joon Lee.
- How do you feel about this list?
.@MLBNetwork's Top 10 Right Now rollout starts with relievers.
— MLB (@MLB) January 11, 2023
What does your list look like? pic.twitter.com/dROMxM7xxr
And tomorrow will be a better day, Buster. Make it so.