Carlos Correa to the Twins - 3 Years, $105 Million

It winter. People gone get grumpy.

 

Carlos Correa finally got his payday. Safe to say the Astros were never going to pay him that much for that long (13 year contract...are you kidding). I wish Correa the best but I'm glad we won't be stuck with that contract in 7-8 years.

 

Marked. Page 1!

 

The Astros are unlikely to pay anybody for that long. And won’t change until this strategy proves itself as what teams need to do to win it all.

 

There's the dagger.

 

The real news would have been if Correa did stay in Minnesota

 

Bregman waiting for his turn next.

 

Yes, it's too many years. Of course. I think all parties know that. Absent a Jeter-like career, this is an overpay (pending future salary caps actually) and definitely an overly long contract.

But the market is the market, and SF -- I can tell you -- is feeling a lot of heat from fans, media, and season ticket holders, etc, to do *something* to keep up with LA and the Padres, for one, but for another, to build any kind of post-Posey identity. Farhan (GM) is great at finding obscure guys on great contracts who slightly over-perform, but no kids want to buy jerseys that say "smart contract" on the back, if you feel me.

 

Next time I head back to SF maybe we can catch a game and root on Correa together!!

 

That would be excellent! Garlic fries on me.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/steve-cohen-discusses-mets-pursuit-of-carlos-correa-we-got-there-late.html

Just before Carlos Correa signed his 13-year, $350MM deal with the Giants, the Mets made an attempt to try land the star shortstop. Mets owner Steve Cohen shed more light on that pursuit in an interview with Jon Heyman of the New York Post, as Cohen said that he contacted Correa’s agent Scott Boras an offer of roughly $300MM. By that point, however, the Giants and Correa’s camp were already deep enough into negotiations that Boras and company didn’t want to turn back.

As Cohen simply put it, “we got there late” on Correa’s market. “We thought maybe he might fall to us….He’s a great leader and a good guy. He could play third base. And he’s a great defender.”

…New York has already re-signed Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo, and brought Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, and Omar Narvaez into the fold during an extraordinary free agent splurge. The result is a payroll that sits at roughly $343.56MM, and a luxury tax number of $356.3MM — both records in MLB history.

“No one likes to spend money. But this is the price” of doing business, Cohen said, as the Mets want to win but aren’t interested in trading from their farm system. If this means operating at a loss in order to chase a World Series, that is fine in Cohen’s view. Also, the owner noted that the club also had a lot of holes to fill (mostly on the pitching staff) given its own extensive free agent class.

“My team is good. But it isn’t that much better than last year. If you want a team that’s good, this is what it costs. What are you going to do?” Cohen asked rhetorically.

As much as there doesn’t appear to be a limit on New York’s spending, Cohen did say that Correa’s market conditions played a role in the Mets’ interest, as he was going to pursue a signing “that made sense…and not get crazy.” The fact that a $300MM offer on top of the Mets’ other spending doesn’t qualify as “crazy” is yet another eye-popping example of how Cohen is redefining baseball’s payroll limits, and yet “I’ve been dealing with big numbers for so long these numbers don’t scare me at all. It’s not like I’m not respectful about what these other teams have to deal with.”

 

He is at least pragmatic. He knows this team isn’t that much better than last year’s team…. Yet this is the price of simply trying to stay “as good”.

If he had a farm system that produced a lot of talent, perhaps he wouldn’t have to spend exorbitantly to get better.

 

And listening to him he’s not going to touch his farm system to improve the big league club because he knows that’s his ticket to sustainability and he’s papering over the gap between now and then. It’s what the Dodgers also have done so well and why the are the monster organization that they are. Mets fans are lucky they finally have a great owner. If he keeps to this level of engagement and being smart they will pretty quickly surpass the Yanks as the best team in NY.

 

They haven’t won **** in over two decades.

He’s also trying to compete in a division that has produced more World Series winners and appearances than any other.

he’s almost doubled his payroll and yet his team has no better odds to win it all than last year (and still not the best in their own division). This is very much what Drayton did in the late 2000’s except they had zero signed draft picks and farm system to promote.

 

Not even close. And the entire point of what my point was is that he is, like crane, taking over for an incompetently run organization. He’s had one full season as an owner and won 101 games. He’s protecting his future farm assets and working to rebuild that with his resources available. The Mets will be very good for the next decade if he continues on his current path.

 

The spending is likely not going to be sustainable unless he wins a World Series. There’s a good chance they don’t win as many games this year as they did last year.

Thus far, he’s doing what most new owners with extra money do when they buy a team… they spend. Crane had a lot of bad debt that he had to pay down when he took over.

 

He's not trying to spend this money long term. He is keeping the team competetive while rebuilding the farm. He isn't trading his assets to get players.

 

Yes, he’s trying to win a World Series by fielding the most expensive team possible. If they had better players in the farm system, they probably wouldn’t have to spend as much.

Depth will be a concern throughout the season (as it is for all teams that take this approach).

 

He’s worth 20B and he’s a fan boy. It’s a sustainable as he wants it to be. But he’s already said he’s committed to rebuild the minors and this is a bridge. Every fan base should want him as an owner.