The Carlos Correa saga — already pretty bonkers to begin with — has taken yet another turn.
The Mets swooped in and signed the All-Star shortstop (soon to move to third base) in the middle of the night after his deal with the Giants fell through. The initial reporting indicated the team had concerns over Correa’s physical, even though he did not fail it. But the timeline presented to The San Francisco Chronicle by superagent Scott Boras suggests there may be more to it?
Scott Boras tells me that after the Giants cancelled their press conference yesterday, they indicated they still wanted to negotiate about Correa. But he didn’t hear anything more from them. Twelve hours later, the Mets deal got worked out.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 21, 2022
It sounds as if there was a very old Correa injury – pre MLB – that was raised as a potential issue. It has not cropped up again. None of Correa’s other physical issues have required medical intervention or ongoing treatment.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 21, 2022
https://twitter.com/susanslusser/status/1605607260985516036
The next shoe to drop is Correa’s physical. Remember, the Mets cut bait with top draft pick Kumar Rocker because of medical concerns. They will not be shy about balking if they feel it is prudent. So if they give Correa the OK, it will certainly look like the Giants went searching for a useful crisis in order to get out of paying Correa $350 million for the next 13 years.
And we get it. The odds of a long-term Correa deal aging well are slim. The Giants giving him that offer always felt reactionary after striking out on Aaron Judge and losing Carlos Rodon. Once cooler heads prevailed, they likely realized they would rather keep their powder dry and make a run at Manny Machado or Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto down the road. So you find a flimsy excuse, ghost and fight another day. That’s probably what happened here. But we should still get Dan in Carteret on the case to be sure.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
