FORT MYERS, Fla. — When the World Series ended and the Astros made an uncompetitive offer for the reunion he once envisioned, Carlos Correa welcomed the most uncertain period of his playing career. His free agency offered few absolutes, even for the sport’s best available shortstop. He became a father days before baseball’s owners locked out their players and pressed pause on the offseason.
One day during the delay, Correa’s wife, Daniella, asked her husband what it would be like to leave Houston. They met there, made lifelong friends and started their family. Correa is the face of a renaissance who will be woven into the city’s baseball fabric forever. He once told a team radio show of a desire to be “an Astro for life,” a fate he had to know was far-fetched. The franchise’s aversion to rich free-agent deals had to prepare the family to leave its home.
“Babe,” Correa told his wife, “what do we do on a daily basis when we’re in the middle of the season? We watch movies, we go eat at restaurants and now we take care of the baby.”
“Every city in the United States has that, so wherever we go, it will be fine. When we put it into perspective, she saw it like that, and was like ‘I guess you’re right.’ Wherever life takes us, we’re going to be ready to go out there and help the team win.”
Approaching it that way allowed the family some semblance of peace. Correa called the decision to exit Houston “pretty easy, honestly.” The Astros made it such. On the day his three-year deal with the Minnesota Twins became official, Correa confirmed he did not hear from Astros officials when the lockout ended, crystallizing the club’s clear lack of interest in a reunion with its former first overall pick.
“We didn’t hear from them,” Correa told The Chronicle. “That’s all I can say.”
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Correa began his free agency in search of a “big, long contract.” The deal he received did not match his vision. The Twins gave him a three-year, $105.3 million contract with opt-out clauses after 2022 and 2023. Correa can get into free-agency again as early as November. His $35.1 million salary next season is the highest for any infielder in major league history.
Correa was cognizant the Astros would not give the mega-deal for eight or 10 years he originally wanted. Owner Jim Crane has never given anything longer than a four-year deal to a domestic free agent. He offered Correa five years and $160 million prior to the lockout. Given his expectations at the time, Correa did not seriously consider it.
The two-and-a-half month lockout shifted Correa’s focus. The market for a long-term deal never materialized. He fired his representation from William Morris Endeavor and hired mega-agent Scott Boras.
“It was very apparent that, particularly with all the thought that went into the operation of the game at the ownership level, to get the game moving again (after the lockout), the focus was not there for that type of consideration,” Boras said. “We wanted to build a bridge.”
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Houston needed one. Its heir apparent at shortstop has played 30 games above Class A Advanced. Signing Correa to a similar deal Minnesota made could have afforded Jeremy Peña more minor league development and made the transition seamless should Correa take another run at free agency in 2023.
“Obviously I know that’s what the Astros like to do, but it didn’t happen for some reasons,” Correa said. “It happened here in Minnesota. They gave me exactly what I wanted. They seem super excited to have me join the organization and, for me, that felt really special.”
Crane has been willing to splurge on short deals in his ownership tenure. Ace Justin Verlander received a two-year, $66 million contract extension in 2019. At the time, Verlander’s $33 million average annual value was a record for starting pitchers.
“Jim and I had a very candid and long conversation about his decision making,” Boras told the Chronicle. “He told me about his plan for what he wanted to go forward with. He had some considerations to do regarding whether or not Carlos could fit into that. They’d already added Verlander and (Héctor) Neris to the team and made some commitments. These are decisions that only owners can make. He was very open about it and forthright. I don’t have any issue with it at all.”
This winter, Verlander re-signed on a one-year, $25 million contract with a player option for 2023. Neris, a veteran reliever, arrived on a two-year deal worth $8 million next season. According to Cots Contracts, Astros have an estimated 2022 competitive balance tax payroll of $192 million. The first CBT threshold is $230 million. Houston ended the 2021 season with a $206 million CBT payroll.
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Whether Crane entered the season intent on slashing payroll is a legitimate question, one that may not be answered until the season’s end. Presuming they sign no one else, the Astros have financial wherewithal to take on a big expenditure at the July trade deadline, something akin to Zack Greinke’s contract in 2019.
Doing so may mitigate the anger this whole saga caused. Houston made courting Correa public, leaking that lowball offer prior to the lockout and then hope for another when spring training started. Crane gave a cryptic, two-sentence statement to KRIV-TV on March 13, boasting the team’s re-engagement with Boras — the sides were “in discussions,” Crane said — but the owner refused to speak with a group of waiting reporters at the team’s facility a few days later.
“Carlos has been an integral part of this team, both on and off the field,” Crane said in a statement released shortly after Correa’s introduction on Wednesday. “His leadership, his character, and his commitment to this community are what make Carlos a very special person. He will forever be one of the great Astros players, a great representative of the Astros organization and a great representative of the city of Houston. We are sincerely thankful for all he has given to the Astros family.
On Wednesday, Correa expressed no ill will toward Crane or the Astros. He sent text messages to Crane, general manager James Click and former general manager Jeff Luhnow, who drafted him first overall in 2012. Asked if he harbored any bitterness about the Astros’ blatant lack of interest, Correa replied “absolutely not, brother.”
“This is a cruel business, a tough business, and you have to learn how to move on in this business,” Correa said. “That’s what I’ve been doing my entire career — moving on and blocking all that stuff away.”
“I’m just grateful for everyone in that organization. They made me the player that I am today. They helped me grow into the person I am today. I only got great things to say about them.”
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Correa will see them again on May 10 at his new home in Minneapolis. The Twins are scheduled to play a three-game series at Minute Maid Park on Aug. 23-26. A distinct possibility exists that Correa is not with them.
If Minnesota falls out of contention by the trade deadline, Correa is an obvious trade chip, one that could fetch the Twins a tremendous prospect haul. If he remains in Minnesota for the full season and performs anywhere close to his capabilities, Correa will opt out and turn this three-year deal into a one-year deal.
“We’re not seeing this as a one-year thing,” Correa said. “We’re seeing this as, I want to build a championship culture in this organization. I want to show you guys what I can do and bring to the table so we can have a long-term relationship at some point.”
Correa started to lay the foundation for it on Wednesday. He arrived inside his new clubhouse at 8:16 Eastern time carrying five bats. He mingled with Twins special assistant Rod Carew before bolting to a press conference alongside Boras and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey.
Boras proclaimed him Minnesota’s newest weapon: a C4. Correa slipped on a white jersey with the new number.
“New chapter, new team, new number,” the new No. 4 said.
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