Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Free agent shortstop Carlos Correa signed a massive 13-year, $350 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Tuesday night.
In an offseason that has already seen a plethora of large contracts given to star players, this is the biggest one yet. It’s the fourth-largest guarantee in MLB history, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic pointed out. It’s also the largest for a shortstop, surpassing Francisco Lindor’s $341 million.
The report comes just a couple hours after Rosenthal and Michael Mayer indicated that the Mets have been in contact with Scott Boras to talk about Correa. The Mets have already made multiple big splashes this offseason, but Steve Cohen clearly didn’t let that slow him down. Despite the success he’s had lately, he fell short in this one. Had Correa gone to New York, he likely would have moved to third base with Lindor manning short.
Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Mets didn’t want to give him a long-term contract, with a plan of signing shorter-term veterans.
Correa is 28, so the deal will take him past the age of 40. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Houston Astros, then turned down $160 million from them and signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, which he opted out of after the first year. He was successful in his time as a Twin, posting a 140 wRC+ and 4.4 fWAR in 136 games. His last year as an Astro was the best season of his career, with a 6.2 fWAR over 148 games.
In over 3800 career plate appearances, he owns a .279/.357/.479 batting line as a shortstop. He’s one of the brightest infield stars in the game and will now become a franchise player in San Francisco.
Dansby Swanson remains the most notable unsigned free agent shortstop, and is due for a sizable paycheck as well.
