Report: Carlos Correa’s deal with Mets in jeopardy over physical

Jul 23, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) looks into the crowd from the dugout during the seventh inning in a game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Correa seemed to have moved on to the New York Mets without much incident after the San Francisco Giants would not clear him over concerns about his physical. Now, however, the same thing is reportedly happening again.

The Mets came away with concerns about Correa’s surgically repaired right leg after his physical, putting their agreement with the shortstop in jeopardy, according to Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Correa underwent his physical with the Mets on Thursday, which prompted the new concerns.

It is not clear what happens next, as both Correa and the Mets could find themselves in a bind. Working against the Mets is the fact that owner Steve Cohen publicly talked up the pending deal on the record before it was made official. That could make it very difficult for the Mets to renegotiate or back out of the deal in spite of their reservations.

Correa and agent Scott Boras will also have ample reason to want to keep the Mets from backing out. The shortstop may have a difficult time finding a comparable contract offer on the open market, particularly now that two teams have raised concerns about the same injury.

The concerns stem from an injury Correa suffered eight years ago, despite Correa never having landed on the injured list with anything stemming from it since then. It may have seemed very odd for the Giants to back out of a deal over something like that, but they seem to be validated now that the Mets have the same concerns. The worry must be quite significant if a second team is balking over it as well.