Another week begins with Carlos Correa unsigned. Like I’ve said before, there was a time when noting that Carlos Correa was unsigned as of January 9 wouldn’t have been a big deal. Happens all the time with Scott Boras clients. But in this case, Correa has twice agreed to massive deals, and has twice run into issues with the physical.
The latest process has lasted three weeks, with New York Mets owner Steve Cohen indicating a resolution on the 12-year, $315 million agreement will come soon, “one way or the other.”
To that end, I find Jon Heyman’s latest particularly interesting for some of his choice of phrasing. Among the interesting lines:
- “Anyway, not only should the Correa talks be wrapped up fairly soon some way, but indications remain that the Mets still have a very decent chance to land the apple of Cohen’s eye — at least as of this writing (the situation is fluid).”
- “While Correa is said to have recently fielded a couple new inquiries from other teams — the Twins are believed to be one — word is those bids were ‘unsolicited,’ which is a pretty good sign the Mets remain Correa’s first option.”
- “Correa clearly will have other options. Earlier, the incumbent Twins were at $285 million over 10 years. Other teams are likely expected to dive in for higher annual salaries but fewer years.”
Ok. If that sounds like a bit of a jumbled mess, that’s because it is. Not necessarily Heyman’s reporting; I mean the situation, itself. It’s a mess. That tends to happen when there is $315 million on the line and a surgically-repaired ankle that has now given two organizations pause about completing a deal with a superstar player they otherwise really wanted to sign.
The Mets have only a “very decent chance” of signing Correa at this point? That’s kinda weird. But their camp is also putting out word that other bids were “unsolicited,” just a few days after putting out word that they had reached out to other organizations? Yup, also kinda weird. And other teams are “likely expected” to try to come in at higher annual salaries and fewer years? I’m not entirely sure what “likely expected” means.
Again, the whole situation is weird. You almost have to step back for a moment, ignore a lot of the chatter, and just think it through. The Mets, for all their incredible spending this offseason, haven’t actually improved their team much, if at all, over last year’s squad. Correa is the only piece that would do that. And Cohen spoke publicly about the deal and how important it was to the team before it was actually complete, setting up a possible costly grievance if Correa is forced to turn elsewhere for a lesser deal after a second failed physical. Nobody wants that to play out. I just don’t believe it. And I don’t believe, GIVEN how things have played out, that the Twins or any other team is going to approach $300 million in guaranteed money at this point.
Logic tells me that Correa and Boras and the Mets and Cohen will sort this out.