Report: Twins sign off on Carlos Correa’s physical, finalize $200M deal - MLB

MINNEAPOLIS — This time, Carlos Correa‘s deal is done.

Correa passed his physical exam and signed a six-year, $200 million contract to return to the Minnesota Twins, who re-entered the most convoluted free agent negotiations in baseball history after deals with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets fell through.

Correa agreed to a contract that could be worth $270 million over 10 seasons if the All-Star shortstop stays healthy, a uniquely structured deal the Twins assembled to jump back in contention after it appeared they’d be outspent – twice – by bigger-market franchises.

The agreements with the Giants and Mets dissolved over concerns by those clubs about the long-term viability of his lower right leg. Correa broke a bone near his ankle sliding into third base as a minor leaguer in 2014, and he had a metal plate inserted for extra support in the surgical repair.

Correa agreed Dec. 13 to a 13-year, $350 million contract with the Giants, who scheduled a news conference a week later to announce the deal. That was called off hours before it was set to begin.

Correa agreed that night to a 12-year, $315 million deal with the Mets, and high-spending owner Steve Cohen even publicly confirmed the pending agreement. But the Mets also raised concerns about the ankle after a Dec. 22 physical, and they held off finalizing the contract while attempting to negotiate protections over the next two weeks. Boras maintained last month that Correa’s tibia surgery should not have been an issue.

The Twins had more advanced insight on Correa’s health, having signed him prior to last season in a deal that Correa opted out of to hit the market again after making $35.1 million in 2022. Correa only missed time to an injured finger after being hit by a pitch and a bout with COVID-19. He played in 136 games, batting .291 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs and leading all major league shortstops with an .834 OPS.

The Mets issued a 13-word statement after the Twins announced the surprise signing of Correa for a second straight offseason: “We were unable to reach an agreement. We wish Carlos all the best.”

The deal with the Twins gives Correa an $8 million signing bonus, salaries of $32 million in each of the first two seasons, $36 million in 2025, $31.5 million in 2026, $30.5 million in 2027 and $30 million in 2028.

Then it gets more complicated, part of the design to protect the Twins once Correa turns 34. The team has options for $25 million in 2029, $20 million in 2030, $15 million in 2031 and $10 million in 2032, and those salaries would become guaranteed if Correa has 575 plate appearances in 2028, 550 in 2029, 525 in 2030 and 502 in 2031. The contract could be worth $225 million over seven seasons, $245 million over eight years and $260 million over nine seasons.

Correa’s options also could be triggered by a top-five finish in MVP voting, a Silver Slugger award or World Series or League Championship Series MVP. He gets a no-trade provision.

Correa won the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year award with Houston, a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove award winner in 2021 and twice made the All-Star team with the Astros, who drafted him first overall in 2012.

The Twins raved about Correa’s leadership during their first season together, and the native of Puerto Rico praised them right back – remarking often about how much he enjoyed the community, the ballpark and the organization. He insisted all along the Twins were in the mix to keep him, even with the bigger spenders pursuing him in a particularly lucrative offseason for shortstops.

Correa’s $33.3 million average annual salary is the 11th-highest among current players, just behind Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor‘s $34.1 million.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The first thing that Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman thinks about when he wakes up each morning is how the club, stuck in what seems like an interminable rebuild, will play on that particular day.

Not where they will play four or five years down the road.

Yet given the modest expectations for a team that lost nearly 100 games a year ago, it makes sense many Royals fans are just as interested – quite possibly more so – in the plans for a downtown ballpark than whether infielder Bobby Witt Jr. can double down on his brilliant rookie season or pitcher Brady Singer can truly become a staff ace.

That’s why Sherman’s second thought probably moves to the downtown ballpark, too.

“This is a huge decision, and I look at it as maybe the most important decision we’ll make as long as we have the privilege of stewarding this team,” Sherman said before the Royals held a final workout Wednesday ahead of opening day. “I’m probably as anxious as you to get moving on that, but it’s a complicated process.”

The Royals have called Kauffman Stadium home since the sister to Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, opened 50 years ago next month.

And while most stadiums are replaced because they have become outdated, the unique, space-aged look of Kauffman Stadium – built during an era in which teams trended toward impersonal, multisport concrete donuts for their homes – remains beloved by Royals fans and visitors alike.

The problem is that despite numerous renovations over the years, the very concrete holding the ballpark together has begun to crumble in places. The cost simply to repair and maintain the ballpark has become prohibitive.

So with the decision essentially made for them to build an entirely new stadium, the Royals revealed plans to build an entire development in the same mold of The Battery Atlanta, where the Braves built Truist Park, and the Ballpark Village in St. Louis, where the new Busch Stadium is merely the centerpiece of a whole entertainment district.

No site has been secured, but several of the most promising are in downtown Kansas City, where the Power & Light District along with T-Mobile Center have spearheaded a successful era of urban renewal.

Sherman has said that private funds would cover the majority of the stadium cost and the entire village, each carrying a price tag of about $1 billion.

But if any public funding will be used, as it was to build and maintain Kauffman Stadium, then it would need to be voted upon, and the earliest that it could show up on a ballot would be August.

“You look at Atlanta, they took some raw ground – they started with 85 acres – and that has been a complete home run,” said Sherman, who purchased the Royals in August 2019, shortly before the pandemic wreaked havoc on team finances.

“This is one of the reasons we want to do this: That’s helped the Braves become more competitive,” Sherman said of the vast potential for increased revenue for one of the smallest-market teams in baseball. “They have locked up and extended the core of their future, and the Braves are in a great position from a baseball standpoint.”

So perhaps the first two thoughts Sherman has each day – about performance and the future – are one and the same.

When it comes to the team itself, the Royals were largely quiet throughout the winter, though that was by design.

Rather than spending heavily on free agents that might help them win a few more games, they decided to stay the course with a promising young roster in the hopes that the development of those players would yield better results.

In fact, Sherman said, the club has been discussing extensions for some of the Royals’ foundational pieces – presumably Witt, who was fourth in voting for AL rookie of the year, and Singer, who was 10-5 with a 3.23 ERA last season.

“We’re having conversations about that as we speak,” Sherman said. “We have a number of young players that we’re trying to evaluate and we’re talking to their representatives about what might work.”

Just because the Royals’ roster largely looks the same, that doesn’t mean nothing has changed. The Royals fired longtime general manager Dayton Moore in September and moved J.J. Picollo to the role, then fired manager Mike Matheny in October and replaced him with longtime Indians and Rays coach Matt Quatraro.

Sherman said the new voices created a palpable energy in spring training that he hopes carries into the regular season.

“When we acquired the team, we had three primary objectives,” Sherman said. “One was to win more games; we’re working on that. The second was to secure the future; that’s what (the stadium) is. And the third was to do good in the community.

“But the first priority,” he said, “is really the on-field product. That’s what really lifts everything else up.”