Mike Puma updates the ongoing Carlos Correa Saga tonight, and since it’s shared by his colleague Jon Heyman (who has been rather plugged in on this particular story), I think it’s worth checking out and parsing for its many indications that getting something done with the Mets is not a lock.
Here’s the piece:
Among the notable items from Puma’s report and some of my thoughts …
- A source close to the talks put it at only 55% that a deal gets done between the Mets and Correa?! Like, there’s a 45% chance this deal, like the Giants deal, completely falls through?
- Neither the Mets nor Correa’s camp are confirming whether they even talked today.
- Puma suggests Correa wants to wind up with the Mets, but is not willing to renegotiate the 12-year, $315 million deal (at least not in terms of the money or the years).
- … of course, if he doesn’t, and the Mets walk away, Correa is hitting the market with the perception that he flunked two physicals from teams that REALLY wanted to sign him.
- At least three teams have been in contact with Scott Boras in recent days, though the way it’s written COULD include the Mets among those three teams (plus probably Giants and Twins, right?). But if it’s three additional teams, that’d be fun.
- The Mets might try to go after Rafael Devers from the Red Sox if Correa falls through? Yeesh, that’d be a LOCK for an extension if the trade happened.
- You’ve gotta believe the most likely outcome here is still a situation where the deal gets done, basically looks the same, and has some protections built in for the Mets based on games missed involving the very specific leg area at issue.
- Of course, when it comes to a 12-year deal, I suspect the Mets aren’t so much interested in the protection of Correa missing games; they are interested in the question of whether his skills degrade rapidly in his 30s because of the prior leg injury, but he doesn’t go on the Injured List for it. That might be all they can get, though, and backing out completely risks a grievance from Scott Boras and Carlos Correa and the Players Association, arguing that Correa’s market was unfairly crippled by Steve Cohen publicly celebrating the signing before the physical, and then backing away after the physical.