MLB Rumors: Michael Conforto Interests Giants After Failed Carlos Correa Contract
Dec 21, 2022
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 02: Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets reacts with teammates after hitting a ball deep for a home run during the eighth inning of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on October 2, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
After losing out on star shortstop Carlos Correa, the San Francisco Giants are left to scour the open market for free agents who can improve their roster.
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have "some interest" in veteran outfielder Michael Conforto, who hasn't played since the 2021 season.
The Giants had reached an agreement with Correa on a 13-year, $350 million deal, which would have tied Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper for the longest contract in MLB history. However, Correa's agent told Jon Heyman of the New York Post that San Francisco had a "difference of opinion" regarding Correa's physical examination.
The hesitation from the Giants opened the door for Boras to engage in negotiations with the New York Mets, and Correa was signed to a $12-year, $315 million contract overnight. Slusser noted that Conforto is also represented by Boras.
Conforto underwent surgery on his shoulder in April and decided to sit out the 2022 season with hopes of returning in 2023. The 29-year-old played the first seven years of his career with the Mets after making his major-league debut in 2015. He rejected a qualifying offer from New York after the 2021 season.
The last time Conforto was on the field, he put up some of the worst numbers of his career. In 2021, he hit .232/.344/.384 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI in 125 games.
The Giants aren't alone in their interest in Conforto. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported on Monday that the Mets, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays were all pursuing the veteran outfielder.
Mets Cement Status as World Series Favorites with $315M Carlos Correa Heist
Zachary D. Rymer
Dec 21, 2022
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 13: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates his two-run home run as he rounds the bases against the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning of the game at Target Field on September 13, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Royals 6-3. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
While you were sleeping, the New York Mets were busy adding yet another star to the best World Series contender money can buy.
Carlos Correa, formerly of the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins, will not be a San Francisco Giant after all. As Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the decorated shortstop will instead be a Met by way of a 12-year, $315 million agreement.
Amazin’ switch: In a late-night stunner, Carlos Correa makes a $315M deal to be Mets 3B, @nypost has learned. More complete story follows. “This really makes a big difference,” Mets owner Steve Cohen tells The Post. “This puts us over the top.”https://t.co/kYNC6xHsnN
That's the question on everyone's mind, all right, but only the broad strokes are public.
The Giants were set to introduce Correa, who on Dec. 13 had agreed to terms with them on a contract worth $350 million over 13 years, on Tuesday but postponed the proceedings at the last minute because of a medical concern. Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants got hung up on a "very old" injury.
Did that necessarily have to kill the deal? Perhaps not, but it was clearly the only excuse that Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, needed to seek other options.
Enter Mets owner Steve Cohen, who Heyman says negotiated directly with Boras to seal a deal that has pushed the club's offseason spending to an unthinkable $806.1 million.
The Amazin' Mets Have an Amazin' Roster
Francisco Lindor and Correa are set to be teammates.
How loaded are the Mets? So loaded that Correa won't even play shortstop.
The plan is for him to move to third base in deference to Francisco Lindor, which is nothing if not a good look on paper. The left side of the Mets infield shall consist of the two most valuable shortstops in baseball since 2015, not to mention the best to ever come out of Puerto Rico.
As for whether Correa's game will translate to third base, "yes" seems a safe guess. His bat, which has produced a 130 wRC+ and 155 home runs, would play anywhere. Ditto for his Gold Glove-winning defense, specifically to the extent that any arm capable of 95.0 mph throws is good enough for the hot corner.
With Lindor still in the early stages of a 10-year, $341 million contract that runs through 2031, there's surely plenty of time for the Mets to reap returns from the left side of their infield. But the idea, of course, is to win now.
To this end, whatever doubts that had been lingering can go away.
The Mets may have lost Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker from a roster that produced 101 wins last season, but retaining Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Díaz and Adam Ottavino and adding Correa, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, José Quintana and David Robertson smacks of the phrase "net positive."
The offense? It's elite. It tied for fifth in MLB in scoring even without Correa in '22, and his coming helps fill eight of their nine lineup slots with hitters who were well above average last season:
The starting rotation? It's also elite. Verlander and Max Scherzer are future Hall of Famers with six Cy Young Awards between them. No matter how Senga, Quintana and Carlos Carrasco line up, they'll comprise perhaps the best 3-4-5 in the majors.
The bullpen? Yup, also elite. Robertson and Ottavino were two of the best right-handers in the business in 2022, while Díaz was arguably the best as he used his blazing fastball and wipeout slider to whiff 118 of the 235 batters he faced.
Granted, there's a non-zero chance of the various red flags associated with this roster—Verlander and Scherzer have 77 combined years on this earth, and there's whatever suddenly had the Giants wary of Correa—coming back to bite the Mets.
There is, however, also a non-zero chance that they're not done adding. There's still time aplenty before spring training, after all, and it bears noting that the Mets were rumored to be in on Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks before the Correa news hit, per Metsmerized's Michael Mayer.
Steve Cohen Just Can't Stop Spending. Good.
New York Mets owners Steve and Alexandra Cohen wait for the team's baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
What's beyond all-in?
Whatever it is, that's where Cohen is in his quest to deliver the Mets' first World Series championship since Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden roamed Shea Stadium in 1986.
Given that he proposed a three-to-five-year timeline for this event to take place upon purchasing the Mets in 2020, it's as if Cohen is feeling antsy after coming up short in 2021 and 2022. It's also as if he's simply wealthier than every other owner in MLB and that he doesn't mind showing it.
Just as Major League Baseball has never seen anything like Cohen's offseason splurge, it's never seen anything like the payroll with which the Mets project to open 2023. The club's salaries will total $376 million, or about $100 million more than the Los Angeles Dodgers had on their record-setting opening payroll from this past season.
In reality, though, this is underselling the situation. As noted by ESPN's Jeff Passan, the luxury tax and its penalties will push the Mets' expenses closer to $500 million:
The New York Mets current payroll is estimated to be around $384 million. The luxury-tax payments alone will exceed $111 million. Their total payroll projects to be $495 million.
The previous max payroll in baseball: less than $350 million. Mets are at almost half a billion.
It was only in 2019 that word came out about a replica championship belt that was awarded by the league to whichever team did the best job of suppressing salaries in arbitration. It was an all-too-perfect encapsulation. Not just of the spending stagnation that had taken hold around MLB (even in its biggest market), but of the general mindset behind it.
Win at all costs? Nah. Reasonable costs only.
Baseball thankfully seems to be moving away from these dark days, as this winter's $3.5 billion spending spree was preceded by a $3.3 billion spree on either side of last winter's lockout. Maury Brown of Forbes and Jayson Stark of The Athletic have highlighted how there's more than one reason for this, but there's no ignoring the Cohen factor.
He's spent about twice as much as any other owner across the last three offseasons, and he practically set the tone for this one with his early $102 million splurge on Díaz. The plan then seemed to be a mere $300 million payroll, but it's clear he decided to throw caution to the wind at some point.
Via Heyman, it doesn't get much more telling than this quote from Cohen in the immediate aftermath of the Correa news: "What the heck's the difference? If you're going to make the move, make the move."
One can only assume that many, if not most, of the other 29 ownership groups in MLB aren't thrilled about this. As a standard to live up to, Cohen's example is somewhere between prohibitive and impossible.
But whether other owners like it or not, this standard exists. At the least, it's good for headlines. And if the desired effect of a long-awaited title comes true, other owners' only choices might be to either catch up or get out.
At least with Judge—Aaron, that is—the Giants' loss wasn't necessarily self-inflicted. They reportedly offered the reigning American League MVP the same $360 million guarantee that he accepted to return to the New York Yankees. If true, the Giants' first attempt at a major free-agent splash was undone by geography and familiarity as much as anything.
There's obviously a different story to Correa's abrupt about-face. And while the Giants, who won 26 fewer games in 2022 than they did in 2021, can't be blamed for wanting to be absolutely sure that their $350 million investment was a good one, how Slusser heard they chose to handle the situation is plenty deserving of skepticism:
Scott Boras tells me that after the Giants cancelled their press conference yesterday, they indicated they still wanted to negotiate about Correa. But he didn’t hear anything more from them. Twelve hours later, the Mets deal got worked out.
If you want to negotiate, then negotiate. You can't push a guy out the door and hope he comes back just because you didn't close it behind him.
And now, there's neither undoing nor fixing it.
Whereas the Giants might have pivoted to Dansby Swanson a week ago, he and every other top free agent is spoken for. That bare cupboard leaves the trade market as the club's only avenue for redeeming its offseason.
The good news is that the Giants clearly have money to take on contracts that other teams don't want. The bad is that they don't have the prospect capital to pry loose players other teams don't necessarily want to lose.
The Giants are thus on their way to a lost offseason. And in all likelihood, another year as an also-ran behind the Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West.
One supposes there's always next winter. But when it arrives, the Giants won't have any right to get upset if Shohei Ohtani, Rafael Devers and other superstar free agents approach them with caution, if at all.
Giants Wish Carlos Correa 'the Best' After Signing Mets Contract, Says Farhan Zaidi
Dec 21, 2022
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 06: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins looks on against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 6, 2022 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
The San Francisco Giants opted for diplomacy after getting spurned by Carlos Correa in MLB free agency.
"While we are prohibited from disclosing confidential medical information, as Scott Boras stated publicly, there was a difference of opinion over the results of Carlos' physical examination," president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Wednesday. "We wish Carlos the best."
Correa had reportedly agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants. Per multiplereports, however, he's on his way to the New York Mets with a 12-year, $315 million contract after the Giants expressed concerns following his physical.
Scott Boras, Correa's agent, addressed the situation and said the Giants "still had questions" and "still wanted to talk to other people, other doctors."
"I said, 'Look, I've given you a reasonable time. We need to move forward on this. Give me a time frame. If you're not going to execute, I need to go talk with other teams,'" he explained per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
A 13-year deal for any player always has the potential to age badly. Correa probably won't be providing a value commensurate with his sizable salary when he's into his late 30s.
That the Giants felt the need to at least pause the process raises some obvious questions as well.
If this was a true medical concern, it sounds a little tenuous - and if it was a matter of cold feet, that’s usually ownership. Not the front office. We won’t know what happened from their viewpoint unless or until the Giants discuss this, if they do.
Over time, San Francisco might be vindicated. For now, losing Correa is a massive blow for a franchise that can't seem to seal the deal with marquee stars.
Giancarlo Stanton didn't waive his no-trade clause in 2017 when he was on his way out from the Miami Marlins. Bryce Harper opted to sign for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. And the Giants seemed to be little more than a stalking horse for Aaron Judge before he returned to the New York Yankees.
There's also the fact the best free agents are now spoken for with Correa making a final decision. Assuming ownership is still fine with offering another $300 million contract, there isn't another player available who would still warrant that kind of investment.
Zaidi's statement doesn't provide much new information, leaving fans to still ponder what specifically precipitated the franchise's about-face.
Boras: Carlos Correa Didn't Hear from Giants After Canceling Presser Before Mets Deal
Dec 21, 2022
Minnesota Twins' Carlos Correa reacts while batting during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
MLB agent Scott Boras explained the circumstances that led to Carlos Correa surprisingly joining the New York Mets on Wednesday after previously agreeing to a deal with the San Francisco Giants.
Scott Boras tells me that after the Giants cancelled their press conference yesterday, they indicated they still wanted to negotiate about Correa. But he didn’t hear anything more from them. Twelve hours later, the Mets deal got worked out.
The Giants were set to announced Correa at a press conference Tuesday after agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million deal last week, but the team delayed the press conference at the last minute as a result of his physical, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.
A day later, Correa agreed to a 12-year, $315 million deal with the Mets, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted the issues with the Giants' physical was likely a "very old Correa injury" before he even came into the majors.
The Mets had previously showed interest in Correa before the Giants had seemingly signed him, with owner Steve Cohen notably getting involved, per Heyman.
"He made a surprise call to Correa's agent Scott Boras—word is, he actually called a couple times—in a spirited attempt to sign the star player before he came off the board," Heyman said of Cohen. "But alas, Boras told Cohen they were 'already down the road' (or words to that effect) with someone else."
The Mets' interest allowed Boras to quickly pivot once the Giants went long enough without communication.
In 2021, it was the Mets that lost out on a Boras client over a physical issue: first-round draft pick Kumar Rocker. The former Vanderbilt pitcher initially agreed to a deal with the team, but an elbow issue caused the organization to renegotiate.
The two sides were unable to work out a deal in time, and Rocker was drafted No. 3 overall by the Texas Rangers in 2022.
Once again, Boras has showed a willingness to move on if the team hesitates.
MLB Fans Troll Giants for Whiffing on Carlos Correa and Aaron Judge in Free Agency
Dec 21, 2022
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 22: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins bats against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on September 22, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
It's a rough time to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants right now.
After previously missing out on Aaron Judge, the Giants thought they were going to have Carlos Correa as a consolation prize. They agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract with the two-time All-Star shortstop on Dec. 13.
One week later, as the Giants were preparing to officially announce the deal, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the team postponed Tuesday's scheduled press conference because of an issue that arose with Correa's physical.
Around 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the New York Mets agreed to a 12-year, $315 million contract with Correa.
As anyone who has ever been on the internet might expect, social media had some thoughts about the Giants coming out of the offseason without either of the two superstar players they were in heavy pursuit of.
Breaking: Carlos Correa and the Mets have a deal…$315M, 12 years.
• Missed out on the Aaron Judge sweepstakes • Let Carlos Rodón walk in free agency & he goes to NYY • Agreed to a deal with Carlos Correa only to have it fall apart due an issue with his physical, & instead the Mets signed him.
There's no way to sugarcoat how bad this is for the Giants. Beyond missing out on Judge and Correa, every other major free agent who was available at the start of the offseason is off the board.
It was going to be hard enough for the Giants to keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West even if they had signed Correa.
Coming off an 81-81 season and having also lost Carlos Rodón to the New York Yankees in free agency, things look bleak for the Giants in 2023.
On the bright side for Bay Area sports fans, the San Francisco 49ers will be in the playoffs after winning the NFC West.
Now that the free agent market is mostly settled, the next major player movement to monitor will be trades. For teams unable to check off their free agent...
MLB Rumors: Carlos Correa's Giants Press Conference Postponed over 'Medical Concern'
Dec 20, 2022
Minnesota Twins' Carlos Correa looks on during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)
Carlos Correa's introductory press conference with the San Francisco Giants was postponed after a "medical concern arose" regarding his physical, according to a report from Ronald Blum of the Associated Press.
Per Blum, "One person confirmed that Tuesday's conference to welcome Correa was put on hold because the sides were awaiting the results of testing. A second person said that a medical issue was flagged during Correa's physical."
Correa, 28, signed a massive 13-year, $350 million contract with the Giants on Dec. 13, one of the biggest moves of the MLB offseason.
He was one of many prominent players to take advantage of free agency; Trea Turner joined the Philadelphia Phillies, Justin Verlander signed with the New York Mets, Xander Bogaerts went to the San Diego Padres and Jacob deGrom inked with the Texas Rangers.
While Correa's talent is unmistakable, injuries have been an issue throughout his career, as he's only played 150 or more games in a regular season once. The fact that the press conference that was set for 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday was canceled will only add greater concern to the proceedings.
I’m told that whatever was or not flagged during his physical, Carlos Correa does *not* have a back issue.
When healthy, Correa has been excellent throughout his career. The two-time All-Star, one-time champion and 2015 AL Rookie of the Year hit .291 with 22 homers, 64 RBI, 70 runs and a .834 OPS across 136 games in his lone season with the Minnesota Twins last year. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Houston Astros.
For San Francisco, Correa was just about the best consolation prize imaginable after failing to lure Aaron Judge away from the New York Yankees, who grew up as a fan of the Giants. Judge chose to remain in the Big Apple on a massive nine-year, $360 million deal.
But the Giants, looking to bolster their lineup, appeared to have locked down Correa, signed slugger Mitch Haniger and retained Joc Pederson. Now, the Correa addition is in some question.
Giants' Brandon Crawford Talks 'Exciting' Carlos Correa Signing, Switching Positions
Dec 15, 2022
SAN DIEGO, CA - OCTOBER 5: Brandon Crawford #35 of the San Francisco Giants plays during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants October 5, 2022 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
San Francisco Giants veteran Brandon Crawford is arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history, but the arrival of star free agent Carlos Correa presents a different challenge for the 35-year-old.
The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly reports that Crawford was informed he will be switching positions this offseason and Correa, who signed a 13-year, $350 million deal on Tuesday, will be San Francisco's everyday shortstop.
Per Baggarly, Crawford received a phone call from team president Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler "less than 15 minutes" after news broke of Correa's signing. Prior to that, there were no discussions of the four-time Gold Glove winner switching positions.
Despite his surprise, Crawford seemed to take the news in stride in a text to Baggarly:
"With the signing of a player as good as Carlos, our team definitely got much better. He's been one of the better players in the league for years, and it's obviously exciting to get a player of his caliber to San Francisco. That being said, he is a shortstop and since the signing the other day, I've been told that that's where he'll stay, so that puts me in a much different situation than I've ever been faced with in professional baseball. So, the rest of this off-season, spring training, and during the season, I will be working my hardest to be the best I can be at a different position and help us get back to the postseason."
While Crawford is likely better suited to moving to second or third base to facilitate the addition of Correa, Baggarly wrote that Crawford "declined to address what his role could be or what position would represent the easiest transition, saying he has been given a rough outline but conversations are still in the beginning stages."
Crawford has spent his entire 12-year major league career with the Giants. He's a three-time All-Star and helped lead San Francisco to two World Series titles in 2012 and 2014. His 1,525 games exclusively at shortstop trails only Derek Jeter (2,674), Luis Aparicio (2,581), Ozzie Smith (2,511), Elvis Andrus (1,906) and J.J. Hardy (1,544).
The 2023 season is the final year on Crawford's contract, and Baggarly noted that there's a chance he considers retirement next winter.
The left-handed hitter is coming off a down year in 2022, hitting .231 with nine homers and 52 RBI. He hopes to return to the 2021 form that saw him hit .298 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI to finish fourth in NL MVP voting.
Carlos Correa's $350M Contract a Perfect Match for Giants After Aaron Judge Snub
Zachary D. Rymer
Dec 14, 2022
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 07: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins looks on and smiles against the New York Yankees on September 2, 2022 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
The San Francisco Giants may have wanted Aaron Judge, but Carlos Correa was always the guy they needed.
Bully for them, then, that Correa's the guy they got. As ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report late Tuesday night, the Giants came to terms with the decorated shortstop on a 13-year contract that will pay out $350 million.
In contrast to the opt-out-laden deal that Correa signed with the Minnesota Twins in March, this one's pretty much for life. Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the 28-year-old's pact with the Giants features full no-trade protection and no opt-outs. He's locked in to play in the Bay Area through his age-40 season in 2035.
He'll certainly be well-compensated. The $350 million guarantee puts Correa at the high end of what he was reportedly seeking last winter, not to mention atop the heap among the highest paid shortstops in history.
If reports of their $360 million offer to Judge are accurate, the Giants have nonetheless saved money in pivoting to Correa after the reigning American League MVP returned to the New York Yankees. And that's just one way that that outcome was for the best.
Aaron Judge Never Made Much Sense for the Giants
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees looks on after reaching third base in the second inning against the Houston Astros in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
To be frank, the Giants' interest in Judge always smacked of corporate types saying, "Let's get this guy because he'll make us money," rather than baseball operations types saying, "Let's get this guy because he'll help us win games."
Joel Sherman of the New York Post indeed suggested as much in November, writing that the Giants' higher-ups craved a star who could draw 'em out like Barry Bonds used to in the early 2000s.
At least on paper, Judge was an ideal solution. A 6'7", 282-pound slugger fresh off hitting an American League-record 62 home runs, and from nearby Linden to boot? That's a draw, all right.
And yet, something a rival executive said to Heyman sums up how awkward of a fit Judge and the Giants were: "He's going to leave the greatest market to go across country to a team where it's hard to hit homers? Come on."
No disrespect to the awesome power in Judge's bat, but Yankee Stadium surely helped amplify his home run output. Oracle Park is not known to do such things, particularly for right-handed sluggers.
Besides, Judge is a guy with a concerning injury history who's pushing 31. Whoever signed him was going to be committing to a win-now window, which would have been an odd thing for the Giants to do on the heels of an 81-81 effort in 2022.
Carlos Correa Makes Tons of Sense for the Giants
Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Minneapolis. The Twins won 6-3. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig)(AP Photo/Craig Lassig)
Signing Correa, on the other hand, isn't strictly a win-now move. It's much more one of the win-now-and-later variety.
Unless he's planning on putting on Michael Lorenzen-ian levels of bulk so he can also pursue home run history, Correa's ceiling doesn't go quite as high as Judge's. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a contemporary superstar with a higher floor, as it's not by accident that Correa has averaged 7.2 rWAR per 162 games throughout his eight MLB seasons.
As evidenced by his well-above-average 129 OPS+ and 18 career postseason home runs, the guy can hit no matter the time of year. The guy can also field, for which you can see his 70 defensive runs saved since 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYq_Rf5TFcI
Correa likewise boasts less quantifiable qualities, such as how he carries himself in the clubhouse. It's telling how strong of an impression he made on his fellow Twins despite only being with them for a few months.
"[Correa] studies players; he studies the game," Nick Gordon told Dan Hayes of The Athletic. "It's the type of player you are, the type of player you want to be, things like that. Potential. He can just see. He sees. He's got an eye for the game. It can be anything, baseball, non-baseball, whatever. It really doesn't matter."
This is a guy the Giants can build around, even if it involves shifting Brandon Crawford to third base in the near term and perhaps Correa himself there in the long term. He's young enough that the Giants should still have years before they have to worry about that. And once they do, they'll need not worry about whether his arm will play at the hot corner.
What's more, Correa didn't cost the Giants any draft picks, as he was ineligible for a qualifying offer, and the structure of his contract is surely conducive to team-building. His $26.9 million average annual value is far short of the $40 million per year Judge got.
That's advantageous in many ways, but particularly as it relates to AAV-driven luxury-tax calculations.
The extra flexibility could come in handy in any number of ways, be they unforeseeable or very much seeable. For instance, potential runs at Rafael Devers or Shohei Ohtani on next winter's free-agent market look that much more feasible.
As for whether Correa himself will be good for business, the Giants don't need him to be. They're getting more than $100 million per year just from TV deals, or enough for basically four Correas.
But if he does boost ticket sales, well, it wouldn't be for the first time:
The Twins have sold more than 100,000 single-game, group tickets and Twins Passes since the news of Carlos Correa's signing broke.
If this particular brand of history repeats itself, it may not be simply because Giants fans also want to turn out for a guy whose credentials include a Rookie of the Year, two All-Star nods, a Gold Glove and a World Series ring.
Correa figures to be that much more of a draw when the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town, as the very real hate they have for him down there is all the more reason for Giants fans to have his back.
Are the Giants a Contender Now, Though?
Giants manager Gabe Kapler
It's all well and good that the Giants have made a sensible long-term gamble on Correa, but the question remains: Does he put them over the hump in the here and now?
If it were just him, no way. But it's not just him, as the Giants had been loading up their offense and pitching even before they agreed to write a $350 million check:
The Giants are all of a sudden having a huge offseason: Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger, Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea. They are still looking for bullpen help, but the heavy lifting is done.
Though the absence of ace left-hander Carlos Rodón—who pitched to a 2.88 ERA over 178 innings for the Giants in 2022—still looms large, that's a good haul that has the Giants looking that much better in relation to National League rivals.
FanGraphs, for example, gives them the eighth-highest WAR projection of any NL team for 2023. Not great but seemingly within the margin of error for a pursuit of the league's three wild-card berths.
This is also assuming that the Giants are done shopping, and they might not be. They have about $26.7 million worth of breathing room between them and the first luxury-tax threshold for 2023. That's plenty to accommodate the club's remaining needs, such as a proper center fielder and a late-inning arm.
To squeeze this long story down into a short one: The Giants look a heck of a lot better than they did at the end of the '22 season. Their new shortstop is but one reason.
