Unless it comes down today, 2022 is going to wrap up without Carlos Correa having been signed. Now, if you’d told me back in November that Correa wouldn’t sign until 2023, I actually wouldn’t have thought it all that odd. It had become the norm before the lockout that big free agents – especially Scott Boras free agents – might not sign until January or February. But we actually had a “normal” December, where things were ROLLING and most of the big free agents all signed within a three-week window surrounding the Winter Meetings.
Ostensibly, that included Correa, who reportedly agreed to a deal with the San Francisco Giants almost three weeks ago. But a medical red flag about his surgically repaired left leg popped up about a week later, Boras quickly pivoted to the Mets, and the 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants was off. The medical issue came up for the Mets, too, and now we’re just waiting on the resolution of their negotiations to see what revised contract Correa actually gets (assuming it does get done with the Mets at all).
But what about the Giants? They’ve remained silent throughout this process, and I think folks understandably wonder just how concerned they were about Correa’s leg, whether they got cold feet, whether they might try to sneak back in, and so on and so on. After missing out on Aaron Judge, Correa was to be the new “face” of the Giants, so it was a PRETTY BIG DEAL for them to back away when they did.
Speaking for the first time on the topic, San Francisco Giants President Farhan Zaidi wasn’t going to go deep on a situation involving (1) a medical issue, and (2) a player who isn’t on the Giants. But he did get into it a little bit, and I think it’s interesting to hear. Zaidi’s comments were noted in a series of Twitter threads by local reporters, which I’ve included below.
The overall sense you get? Or at least the message the Giants would like out there? They truly did want to sign Correa to the agreed upon deal, but something NEW came up in their post-agreement physical, which was not known prior to signing. There was no cold feet situation at an ownership level, nor were there any last-minute shenanigans that could catch Correa and Boras off guard. It was just a sincere issue that came up – but which they cannot talk about publicly, even as reports have indicated it was the leg – and they gave their best efforts to make it work. They’ve still been in touch with Boras, but they have the sense that Correa is going elsewhere at this point.