Astros-Twins Series Loses Serious Juice Without Carlos Correa

Houston Astros infielder Carlos Correa. Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Astros-Twins Series Loses Serious Juice Without Carlos Correa

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Seth Dowdle | Last updated May 18, 2026 5:00 PM ET

291 days ago, the Houston Astros appeared to be on the precipice of making yet another run toward the postseason and were pushing all their chips to the middle of the table. They did this by reacquiring a franchise hero, a player who was integral to the team’s two World Series championships in Carlos Correa.

In the time since the trade, which saw the Twins send over a whopping $33 million to help cover Correa’s remaining contract, the former All-Star infielder has made little to no impact in an Astros uniform.

The team wound up missing the playoffs entirely in 2025 and hasn’t gotten off to a hot start in 2026, either. At least Correa was supposed to get the opportunity to return to Minnesota and show the fans in the Twin Cities what he’s still made of during the Astros’ upcoming three-game series against the Twins.

Well, no. That won’t be happening.

Correa, who helped the Twins win their first postseason game in 19 years in 2023 before succumbing in the ALDS to, who else, but the Astros, won’t even be available to hear either boos or cheers at Target Field on Monday night.

Instead, he’s languishing on the injured list for the rest of the season after suffering a torn tendon in his left ankle. In many ways, Correa’s absence in this series — one that would’ve been his first time returning to Target Field since the trade — is indicative of everything that’s gone wrong with the Astros over the last 291 days. Not even the fun narratives are coming to pass.

A Trade That Never Fully Materialized

Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

It’s hard to say that the Correa trade has been a failure. After all, the Astros acquired him for essentially nothing. Matt Mikulski, the only other player involved in the deal, was released following the 2025 season and hasn’t made a pitch in a professional baseball game since.

Still, with little to no results since the trade — Correa’s been fine, albeit unavailable for the most part now, but the team hasn’t won — it’s fair to question the Astros’ overall process.

Now Correa won’t even have the chance to play in front of the Twins crowd one more time. What was set up to be a fun little “revenge series” — if it can even be called that — has completely lost its juice. A matchup that looked intriguing when the schedule was released now feels like just another series in the middle of May between two teams searching for answers.

That’s probably the most disappointing part of all of this. The Astros brought Correa back because they believed there was still some magic left in the tank, both for him and for the organization itself. Instead, injuries, inconsistency, and losing baseball have swallowed up almost everything that made the reunion exciting in the first place.

If Correa were healthy, at least this series would’ve had a little life to it. Instead, it’s just another reminder that the Astros’ gamble never really got off the ground.

This article first appeared on Houston Astros on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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