The biggest story in the league over the past month has been the twisting saga involving Carlos Correa free agency. The two-time All-Star signed with the Giants and majors after teams raised concerns about the status of his right ankle during their physicals. After weeks of twists and turns, Correa returned to the Twins, where he spent the 2022 campaign.
Correa’s agent Scott Boras addressed the situation in an interview with “Bob Nightengale” of the USA over the weekend. The agent expressed frustration with the Mets, telling Nightingale that the New York club was relying on the same doctor who raised concerns about Correa’s ankle while consulting for the Giants. The shortstop himself said as much in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic last week. Both USA Today and Dan Martin/Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote over the weekend that Dr. Robert Anderson, a Wisconsin-based foot/ankle specialist with extensive experience working with NFL players, was the orthopedist. who consulted with the team. physicians for both San Francisco and New York.
“I don’t understand adultsBoras told Nightengale. “I gave them all the information. We got them to talk to four doctors. They knew the Giants’ problem. And yet they still call the same doctor the giants used for their opinion. There was no new information. So why contract if you’re going to rely on the same doctor? It was different with the giants because the doctor had an opinion they didn’t know about. But the Mets noticed. They knew the opinion of the Giants. So why would you negotiate when you already know this thing?»
Correa’s camp quickly turned to the Mets after a deal with the Giants fell through. It wasn’t a case of New York raising concerns about the physical. Boras and the Mets spent nearly two weeks in exclusive negotiations, with the team seeking a dramatic change to the original 12-year, $315 million deal.
Like Heyman reported first The Mets’ new offer last week included $157.5 million guaranteed over six years, exactly half the original agreement. The deal would carry an additional six years and $157.5 million in contingent money after that, and Nightingale wrote that the Mets wanted Correa to pass physicals at the end of each of the last six seasons. Nightengale reports that Korea’s camp offered language that would have allowed the Bigs to decommit in the event of a right ankle problem that would cost him two months of action, and a clause that would have allowed the team; invalid deal if Correa misses 120+ days over two years with an ankle injury. Regardless of the specifics being discussed, obviously the parties could not come to a satisfactory compromise.
With negotiations deadlocked, Boras opened lines of communication with other teams in early January. Last Monday, Correa’s camp reached an agreement with the Twins on a six-year, $200 million guarantee that contains four more club/injury options that could max out the contract at $270 million over ten years. Correa passed his physical with Minnesota and the team made the deal official Wednesday morning.
Neither the Giants nor the Mets have been able to offer much publicly about their reasons for opting out of their deals. Officials at both clubs said HIPAA privacy protections prevent them from revealing many specifics about players’ health. Both teams released brief statements after their deals fell through, saying they couldn’t come to an agreement and wishing Korea the best. However, SNY’s Andy Martino reported that shortly before talks with the Mets collapsed, team officials were “very disappointed” with the status of negotiations.
In the end, all this is more than a historical footnote. Correa will be a Twin for at least the best part of the 2020s, and Minnesota is betting on the long-term stability of his ankle. Giants and Mets will roll back Brandon Crawford and: Francisco Lindorrespectively, at shortstop, sticking with previous infield options around the field.
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