Steve Cohen might be vacationing in Hawaii, but the Mets owner still had an early Christmas gift for Mets fans early Wednesday morning. After his deal with the Giants fell through, the Mets swooped in and reportedly will sign Carlos Correa to a 12-year deal worth $315 million. Correa joins the likes of Edwin Díaz , Justin Verlander, Brandon Nimmo, David Robertson, José Quintana, and Kodai Senga as players the Mets have signed this offseason. Correa will become the Mets everyday third baseman with Francisco Lindor staying at short.
Correa is a significant improvement both offensively and defensively over the Mets 2022 starter at third, Eduardo Escobar. The former World Series Champion is only 27 years old and still has his several years of his prime in front of him, despite already being so accomplished. Last season in Minnesota, Correa slashed .291/.366./.467 and hit 22 home runs in 136 games. Correa’s 140 OPS+ in 2022 would have been tied with Jeff McNeil for second-best on Mets, behind only Pete Alonso‘s 146.
With Correa now in the fold, the Mets lineup is completely stacked. Here’s a rough estimate of what the team could look like on Opening Day against the Marlins.
- CF Brandon Nimmo
- RF Starling Marte
- SS Fransisco Lindor
- 1B Pete Alonso
- 3B Carlos Correa
- 2B Jeff McNeil
- DH Daniel Vogelbach/Eduardo Escobar
- LF Mark Canha
- C Omar Narváez/Tomás Nido
Here is another possible configuration depending on how Buck Showalter wants to play it:
- Nimmo
- Correa
- Lindor
- Alonso
- McNeil
- Marte
- Vogelbach/Escobar
- Canha
- Narváez/Nido
Either way (or any other way you want to configure it really), the Mets are going to give opposing pitchers nightmares every single night.
Correa instantly solves many of the Mets’ issues from last season by adding an elite hitter in the middle of their lineup. Correa was worth nearly four-and-a-half wins above replacement last season. He hit righties (.289) nearly as good as lefties (.299) and hit the ball hard nearly 45% of the time, better than any Mets regular last season except Alonso.
Accounting for his position change, Correa’s offensive stats would also rank him among the best offensive third baseman in the majors.
Carlos Correa had a 136 wRC+ over the last two seasons, that would rank fourth behind only José Ramírez, Austin Riley, and Rafael Devers for qualified third baseman during that span.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) December 21, 2022
With Correa now signed, Escobar and his $9.5 million salary could become a trade candidate. However, if the Mets hold on to him, he would give them another possible option at DH to split time with Daniel Vogelbach bolstering the team’s depth and bench. Francisco Álvarez, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, could also factor into the lineup at catcher/DH which would raise the team’s offensive ceiling even more.
While the Mets had a great lineup for most of last season, their flaws were on full display in a division-deciding series late in the year against the Braves and in the playoffs against the Padres. However, with the rest of the 2022 group back and Correa now slotted in at third, there are few, if any lineups that are better in the major leagues.
