After putting together a very strong 2022 campaign in his first year with the Minnesota Twins, Carlos Correa opted out of his contract, once again testing the waters of free agency over the winter.
Correa was a highly sought-after prize. The San Francisco Giants shelled out a whopping 13-year, $350 million contract in December. Days later, he was expected to make his introductory press conference, but his deal hit a snag due to concerns that arose from his medical. Later that night, Correa agreed to a 12-year, $315 million deal with the New York Mets. However, that contract fell apart due to medical concerns that arose from his physical with the Mets. In the end, Correa ended up returning to Minnesota on a six-year, $200 million contract with vesting options that could increase the monetary value of the deal to $270 million.
Correa was seen as the prized possession of the winter, behind New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. He's a two-time All-Star that finished fifth in AL MVP voting in 2021. He also collected a Gold Glove in 2021, six years after taking home AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2015. He agreed to sign not one, but two different $300 million contracts. That has to be some type of record.
But in Correa's first 19 games back with the Twins, the shortstop is slashing .213/.277/.637. Monday night in his club's 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees, Correa went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts, stranding six runners on base, while batting in the two-hole for the Twins.
Entering Monday, Correa had just five hits in his last 34 plate appearances, a .167 Batting Average over his previous eight games. Correa is in a slump right now, but even with their highest-paid player swinging a cold bat, the Twins are in first place, leading the American League Central division by two games. The Cleveland Guardians are two games back of the Twins.
The Twins have been getting good contributions from Jorge Polanco, Joey Gallo and Christian Vazquez. If and when Correa heats up, the Twins could become very dangerous.
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