The New York Mets wanted Carlos Correa to play third base and form a super-infield with Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso.
Those four would have been contenders for best infield in baseball.
However, concerns about Correa’s right leg messed up the initial $315 million agreement.
Since the Mets wanted to protect themselves against any potential issues with that leg, they drastically changed the terms of the initial deal.
Obviously, Correa’s camp didn’t like it and restarted talks with other teams, which is why he ended up signing a six-year, $200 million contract with the Minnesota Twins.
That deal has vesting options for four additional years, starting at $25 million for year seven.
In the end, the Twins’ offer was much, much better than the Mets.
Look at this.
“Sources tell The Post: Mets were willing to fully guarantee 6 years (at $157.5M) but the final 6 would have been only conditionally guaranteed. So Correa will make $42.5M more in first 6 with Twins. Mets and Correa couldn’t get past the language issue. Story to come at @nypost,” MLB insider Jon Heyman tweeted.
Just the fact that the Twins were able to guarantee $42.5 million more than the Mets over the same six-year period likely swung things in Minnesota’s favor.
Additionally, the Mets would have required an annual physical exam to guarantee every year, and that’s something that Correa wasn’t going to agree to.
In the end, Correa lost some money because of the right leg issue but it’s hard to look at $200 million guaranteed negatively.
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