Carlos Correa has agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Twins after negotiations with the New York Mets fell apart, and it sounds like the star shortstop has secured more guaranteed money with his new deal.
Correa and the Mets initially agreed to a 12-year, $315 million contract after the San Francisco Giants backed out of a 13-year, $350 million pact with him because of an injury concern. The Mets then flagged the same concern, which stemmed from a lower leg injury Correa suffered while he was in the minors.
The Twins have guaranteed Correa $200 million over six years. After that, he has conditional salaries of $25 million, $20 million, $15 million and $10 million from Year 7 through Year 10. The seventh year of the deal would become guaranteed if Correa has at least 502 plate appearances in Year 6, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Correa’s conditional salaries from years 7 through 10 in Twins deal are: $25M, $20M, $15M and finally $10M. He vests/guarantees year 7 with 502 plate appearances in year 6. So he can guarantee 85% of the contract with 7 years performance.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 10, 2023
The Mets offered a similarly structured deal, but Heyman reports that they were not willing to guarantee as much money. New York offered just under $160 million guaranteed over the first six years, with another six conditional years.
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
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 10, 2023
It is unclear if Correa’s agent Scott Boras gave the Mets a chance to match or beat Minnesota’s offer. If not, the Twins had a serious advantage over the Mets in negotiations.
Correa has spent no time on the injured list for any issue with his lower right leg, which he broke while sliding into second in a 2014 minor league game. He still needs to pass a physical with the Twins, but ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that they are aware of the issue and comfortable with it.
The Twins seem to be the big winners in what has been a wild offseason for Correa. The 28-year-old opted out of the three-year, $105.3 million deal he signed with Minnesota after one season. The Twins were then willing to offer him a 10-year, $285 million contract this winter. That is now roughly the maximum that they will owe Correa if he remains healthy, so the situation worked out well for them.
