Carlos Correa once again reversed course and brought him back to where he started in the most convoluted free agent negotiations in baseball history.
Correa agreed to a six-year, $200 million deal on Tuesday that will keep him with the Minnesota Twins after failing to complete deals with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.
The All-Star shortstop’s deal could be worth $270 million over 10 seasons if Correa stays healthy. The contract is contingent on passing a physical, and Correa was in the Minneapolis area on Tuesday for a physical, the person said.
More than 100 free agents negotiate contracts each offseason, and agents and clubs that pass physicals routinely sign letters of approval. The player goes for exams and tests at a team-selected medical facility, club doctors review the results, and the team finalizes a contract, which is then reported to Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
While 99% of deals go this route, Correa and agent Scott Boras have twice reached deals that have fallen through, an unprecedented turnaround for a star.
Correa agreed to a $350 million, 13-year deal on Dec. 13 with the Giants, who scheduled a press conference a week later to announce the deal, then withdrew the announcement hours before it was to begin due to concerns about a right ankle injury. Correa held on in 2014.
Correa agreed to a 12-year, $315 million deal with the Mets that night, and high-spending owner Steve Cohen even confirmed the pending deal. But the Mets also had concerns about the ankle after a physical on Dec. 22 and delayed finalizing the deal while they tried to negotiate protection over the next two weeks.
A deal was struck with the Twins on Tuesday that called for an $8 million signing bonus, half due next month and half in February 2024, and salaries of $32 million in each of the first two seasons, $36 million in 2025, $31.5 million in 2026, $30.5 million in 2027 and $30 million in 2028.
Minnesota’s deal includes team options for $25 million in 2029, $20 million in 2030, $15 million in 2031 and $10 million in 2032, salaries that would be guaranteed if Correa had 575 plate appearances in in 2028, 550 in 2029, 523025 in 2031. The contract could be worth $225 million over seven seasons, $245 million over eight years and $260 million over nine seasons.
Correa’s options could also be triggered by a top-five finish in MVP voting, a Silver Slugger award, or a World Series or League Championship Series MVP.
After a physical, the Mets were willing to guarantee $157.5 million over six seasons, the person said.
While guaranteed money continued to decrease in each subsequent deal, the average annual value rose from $26.9 million with San Francisco to $33.3 million with Minnesota. The deal with New York would have originally guaranteed $210 million over the first eight seasons.
Correa left Houston to join the Twins last offseason for a $105.3 million, three-year deal that included an opt-out after each season. He opted out of his contract after making $35.1 million in 2022 to seek a longer-term contract.
Boras argued the player’s 2014 surgery to repair a broken right tibia shouldn’t be a problem. Dr. Kevin Varner, chairman of the orthopedics department at Houston Methodist Hospital, operated on Correa.
In previous years, Boras dealt with health issues in the contracts for Ivan Rodriguez and Maglio Ordóñez with Detroit and for JD Drew and JD Martinez in Boston.
Correa, the first overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft and 2015 AL Rookie of the Year with Houston, has a .279 batting average with 155 homers and 553 RBI in eight major league seasons. He was also a great postseason performer with 18 homers and 59 RBIs in 79 games and won the 2017 World Series title with the Astros.
The two-time All-Star and 2021 Gold Glove raved about his time in Minnesota and how much he and his family enjoyed the community as he kept the Twins in the mix throughout, even as the big spending spree dogged him in a particularly lucrative offseason. for short stops. Xander Boegarts, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson were also rich.
Minnesota has made no secret of its strong desire to offer a contract unlike any other in mid-market franchise history, with an eight-year, $184 million deal that will extend 2010 catcher Joe Mauer’s previous record in number and length. Twins players close to Correa kept in touch with the Puerto Rico native and lobbied for him to return.
However, the twins had their limits. They acquired shortstop Kyle Farmer in a trade with the Reds for insurance at the position while top prospect Royce Lewis continues his recovery from a torn ACL expected to keep him out for the first half of this season.
New York became the biggest player in baseball under Cohen to buy the team before the 2021 season. Correa’s addition would put New York on track to pay more than $500 million in luxury taxes and tax assessments this year.
AP sports writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
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