Carlos Correa, not a Met, happy with Twins amid his worst season
The Twins' Carlos Correa grimaces after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning of a game against the Guardians on Tuesday in Cleveland. Credit: AP/Sue Ogrocki
MINNEAPOLIS — Say this about the Mets’ Carlos Correa saga last offseason: It has worked out just fine for them.
In the first season since Correa and the Mets did not consummate their 12-year, $315 million contract, the shortstop is having the worst offensive year of his career with the Twins.
He entered Friday hitting .229 with a .310 OBP and .396 slugging percentage, a level of production that doesn’t quite reach the level of league average. As he plays through plantar fasciitis in his left foot, he is striking out more and walking less, and has grounded into a major league-leading 29 double plays.
For all that has gone wrong for the Mets, they at least don’t count Correa among their problems.
In an alternate but entirely plausible series of events, this weekend would have marked Correa’s return to Minnesota, where he played in 2022 but tried to leave.
Now, though, he insists he is happy where he is.
“The season hasn’t gone, for me personally, as I’ve wanted it to,” the 28-year-old said before going 2-for-3 with a homer, double and walk in the Twins’ 5-2 win over the Mets on Friday night. “There’s no excuse. It’s just how it’s gone. But at the same time, the way I look at it is, keep working on my swing and try to get to where I want to be and help down the stretch and, once we get to the playoffs, be hot at the right time.
“At the end of the day, the Twins signed me to win championships, not to win personal accolades.”
The whole episode worked out for Correa, too, in the sense that he likely is headed to the playoffs. The AL Central-leading Twins have a 6 1/2-game lead over second-place Cleveland.
The Mets, meanwhile, are auditioning players for next season.
“The Mets don’t have a chance to make the playoffs? Really?” Correa said. “I didn’t know that. I know they got a great team over there. I know they got rid of some good pieces . . . When you look at that team when the season started, on paper they look really, really, really nice. I don’t know how their season is going, but I know our season over here is going great.”
The Mets’ involvement actually was only the middle phase of a longer free-agency adventure for Correa.
He initially agreed with the Giants on a 13-year, $350 million deal that would have topped Francisco Lindor’s $341 million record for the richest contract for a shortstop. But when the Giants developed concerns over his right ankle after a physical, those negotiations fell apart.
The Mets swooped in with their mega-pact, planning to put him at third base next to Lindor, his former teammate on Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. Lindor and Correa talked for 40 minutes around then, Correa said, about the Mets, “what they teach and what they believe in,” and Correa’s pending position change.
Correa also called owner Steve Cohen an “unbelievable person” based on their phone conversations.
But the Mets ended up having the same qualms about Correa’s long-term health. That deal, too, never happened.
So Correa wound up back with the Twins for six years and $200 million. Included are four years of vesting/club options that can bring the total value to $270 million.
“It was weird,” Correa said of the whole ordeal. “Now that I’m here, I look back and I can tell the story to a lot of people. I feel like everybody I talk to wants to know a little bit of the background of what happened that winter. It was the first time in MLB history a player signed three deals in [several weeks].”
Lindor said: “He found a good home, as he called it. He feels like that was home for him the whole entire time. I’m glad he’s somewhere where he feels comfortable.”
Correa said he didn’t realize the Mets were coming to town until a few days ago when he checked the schedule for this homestand.
“I’m very happy,” he said, “that I’m here today.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
