Following an overnight stunner of a transaction, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around baseball throughout the day:
1. What will the fallout of Correa’s new deal be?
Carlos Correa and the Mets stunned the baseball world by coming to terms on a 12-year, $315MM contract last night, and a shakeup of this magnitude is certain to have ripple effects throughout the offseason and beyond. For the Mets, the addition of Correa pushes Eduardo Escobar out of the starting lineup while potentially blocking the advancement of top prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, both of whom primarily play third base. This could potentially leave Escobar on the trade block, where he would join James McCann and Carlos Carrasco as players the Mets are listening on. Baty and Vientos, meanwhile, could still have paths to playing time in the majors. Baty can play left field in addition to third, while Vientos already appeared to profile better at first base or the DH slot than the hot corner. Still, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Mets deal either player in pursuit of upgrades elsewhere, especially considering their interest in Liam Hendriks. As for the Giants, they’ve now lost out on pursuits of Correa, Aaron Judge, and Carlos Rodon in free agency this offseason, leaving them in a troubling position going forward. Though they’ve added quality complementary pieces such as Mitch Haniger, Ross Stripling, and Sean Manaea, their failure to add any of the top free agents leaves San Francisco lacking the star power necessary to compete with the Dodgers and Padres in the NL West. Perhaps the Giants will be able to get creative and use their unexpectedly available financial resources to acquire talent in trades, but failing that, they may have to set their eyes on next offseason’s free agent class, which also seems likely to have a great deal of star power at the top of the market.
2. Where does the infield market stand?
While Correa’s new home was the big news yesterday, the infield market has begun to heat up, with Brandon Drury landing in Anaheim on a two-year deal and Matt Carpenter headed to San Diego, just a few days after Justin Turner signed on in Boston. The Diamondbacks, White Sox, Cubs and Marlins are among the teams who could still be looking to add to their infield, and the free agent market still has some interesting options available. Jean Segura is perhaps the best infielder left on the market, though Evan Longoria, Donovan Solano, and Elvis Andrus are all still available as well. The rumor mill has been quiet regarding this group of players (though Longoria has been connected to Arizona), but with the market for infielders in a similar tier heating up in recent days, it’s possible the markets for these players could advance quickly.
3. MLBTR Chat Today
Whether you missed out on yesterday’s live chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams, or last night’s shocking Correa deal has raised new questions for you, don’t fret. Not only can you read the transcript of that chat here, but MLBTR’s Anthony Franco will be hosting a live chat of his own today at 3:00 PM CT, where he will field questions from readers. You can submit a question in advance here, and the same link will take you to the chat once it’s live if you want to participate in real time.
Imagine Correa not passing his physical with the Mets.
Shouldn’t be hard to turn your head & cough
They prolly won’t even give him a physical.
they will give him a phisical,however new york city and long island are full of quacks.im sure they will pass him.doctors up there have verry little ethics.
See
See
Original:
“they will give him a phisical,however new york city and long island are full of quacks.im sure they will pass him.doctors up there have verry little ethics.”
New:
They will give him a physical, however New York City and Long Island are full of quacks Im sure they will pass him because doctors up there have very little ethics.
Hey Pal!
I have fixed basic punctuation for you. Please let me know where you live because I will not go see a doctor there when normal society (such as yourself) can’t even spell the word “phisical” correctly.
And you know this because …?
I did forget to add a period between quacks & I’m…lol
Someone is on the period
You also didn’t put an apostrophe between the I and m. Maybe snarky grammar checks aren’t for you.
“I did forget to add a period between quacks & I’m…lol”
or maybe you didn’t inspect the correction comment great.
btw, hooked on phonics was not for me.
You kind of did and you didn’t fix it. Lol
Then he sees if the Twins will honor the second option year in the old contract!
lol, good one ink.
Kumar Rocker, another Boras client, wants to know.
the rumor is that Correa had buyers remorse and wanted to play with Lindor. Correa didn’t think the Mets were serious in signing him so he signed with the Giants. Lindor called Correa to see if he could get out of the contract. Boras called the Giants and asked out. To save face, the Giants said it was a physical reason.
That’s a lot of speculation. If that’s true the Giants certainly would release that version of the story.
Ok, I’ll run with that, but what about the Correa soundbites of him saying that like Dior if a team wants him, they need to buy him? Is that a guy that would really play out of position with a friend and leave $35M and 1 less year on the table? I don’t know him, but what I’ve learned from him (and his agent) is they will take every dollar they can possibly get, but I could be wrong.
Imagine thinking the Mets don’t know exactly what the issue was that caused the Giants to back out
Interesting to see Correa in NY. Thought he was enemy # 1 in that city.
For the Yankees I would say.
The “ enemy “ concept ironically comes to an abrupt halt when or if the Mets win the World Series
Yeah for the Mets it’s still Johnny Rocker lol
With “Larry” Jones a close second?
No. 2 is still Roger Clemens for me. Can’t stand that man.
I’m a Yankees fan and I don’t like Clemens.
I don’t think that fans hated Chipper/Larry in the way you’re describing. He was a great competitor and didn’t injure anyone. He even named his kid Shea. Utley definitely at or near the top for me.
Can’t wait to see little Shea Jones start playing ball with dad Chipper’s swing. Met-killer in training…
Or maybe he’ll be on the Mets, and be a Braves killer, LOL.
That’d be fun…and good luck at those Thanksgiving dinners, Shea.
Just think of Red Sox fans. We have Clemens AND schilling in our history..
Yes. Chipper was more of a respected adversary. I put Jimmy Rollins in the same category.
That’s not wrong… 😉
Chase Utley would like a word
I’d say for me as a Mets fan it was the Wilpons. If you listened WFAN a lot, we all hated the Wilpons. With passion.
Now Mets fans will love him and tell us we need to get over that cheating scandal.
We will love him. The ones who believe in mercy have already forgiven him long ago. The ones who don’t believe in mercy but are still glad he’s on the Mets will no doubt suffer some cognitive dissonance.
And I am one who believes in mercy. I hope you do too.
Wasn’t it Bobby Bonilla?
I was going to say Marlin Byrd.
The Giants….Lol
For real. That Tony Gwynn guy was right all along, and I’ve been a Giants fan for 40 years. They won’t get another cent out of me until the entire front office and on field management is gone.
That Tony Gwynn guy was just a dumb troll.
But I feel your pain, dude.
Uncle Steve is quite the vulture lol
Look, diehard Met fan who’s used to disappointment so forgive me. This is gonna get investigated by the league, right?
Oh well, there goes my Devers for Baty dream.
What if Baty never worked out in the bigs? Then your dream is still crushed.
Depends on which one he wanted (you might know; I don’t).
Spend $300+ mm on a player who plays a position where you have a player under contract for $300+ mm. What could go wrong?
Cohen makes Congressmen blush with his spending habits.
I wouldn’t call Manea a quality piece.
Does A-Rod still sting because he had to play third?
Polar Bear probably wants an extension hammered out while the cash is flowing…
So, wait… he’s going to play for both the Giants & Mets?
Cohen is doing to the Mets what Dan Snyder did when he bought the Redskins – brought in stars and huge contracts, treating it all like a fantasy team. Didn’t work out well for Dan, but he had a cap to deal with as well.
Josh Harrison?! Had a good year again.. mlbtr always forgets him
Correa has hit the dl 7 of the 8 years he’s played, but can still get a 13 year commitment. Then gets flagged for something on a physical and another team is still willing to give him 12 years? This “new” baseball world is quite the trip.
This is in the same way people don’t understand why CEOs make such massive money.
Rare exceptional Talent is very difficult to find and if you do happen to land one of these guys you will pay them.
Gotta love the people who are mad at the free part of being a free agent…
Color this Mets fan equal parts elated and confused.
Which crayon do I use for that hue?
The fallout from the Correa deal? Tax penalty does not intimidate some owners to continue to spend well above it. Something else, in addition to hitting an owners wallet, needs to be implemented before the competitive integrity of the game is damaged beyond repair?
To keep things fair, maybe assign a value other than 1 for a win (and/or loss, maybe) to help keep fair play in balance?
Ex. Based on payroll
1 win = 1 win (middle 70% of teams in total payroll/ each league)
1 win = .9 of 1 win (bottom 15% in total payroll)
1 win = .9 of 1 win along with existing tax penalty and other penalties staying in place (top 15% in total payroll)
Amateur hour on my part, I know. That said, does something need to happen?
C Yards Jeff;
MLB needs total revenue sharing, a hard payroll cap, and a floor.
Period.
ASAP.
The Mets and Padres owners have showed what a total joke MLB is compared to the NFL and NBA. Numerous teams have no chance to win anything and will have no chance to win anything in the future. If a fan is in one of those markets all they can do is complain about an owner not spending when he/she is taking in a fraction of the revenue other teams in their league are.
I’ve not been for a hard cap. But this offseason has taken MLB back to the late 1950’s before drafts were instituted – and with free agency it’s even worse, because the big money teams used to buy up the best minor league players that might not adjust to ML play. Now they’re buying up established major league players.
I love the sport so I’ll still watch some. But I have younger relatives that laugh at me for following MLB as they find the sport boring. MLB already knows that they have a problem with people under 40 and are going to with future generations. They’ve better level the playing field ASAP.
@Samuel; great take, thank you.
“revenue sharing”, “hard cap”, “floor”. All effective tools in addressing fair play, indeed. I can see hard cap and floor strategies happening. And maybe that is enough? Prying revenues from big market teams? Maybe on a “wing and prayer” it happens?. Oof!
I’m so caught up in self, that I haven’t given much thought to how our “National Past time” is perceived by younger demographics. Insightful insight. Scary. Gulp!
Happy Holidays to you and family. Cheers!
I feel bad for the fans of the teams that are swamped financially. Some – the Rays, the A’s, now the Orioles – seem to have found a way to work through skilled scouting and drafting.
And then there are the Pirates.
Numerous teams don’t spend! That’s not Cohen’s fault. They have money.
I posted this already in another article but in case you didn’t see it and want to commiserate with me:
Sorry, I have to vent here. My favorite player growing up was Dwight Gooden. It’s why I’m a Mets fan. I never thought I would like any player better but then came David Wright (yeah not even Piazza surpassed Doc in my eye). I never thought I’d like a player better than Wright but then came DeGrom.
When Cohen let DeGrom go I understood because that money could be better spent elsewhere. But now he makes a huge, unnecessary splash with money that could have been used to keep my hero.
I was excited when Cohen bought the team because I knew he wouldn’t be a cheapskate and would overpay to keep players like DeGrom. I know the Mets are great now but it’s just not going to be as fun or meaningful for me. I’m sure I’m in the minority but it’s just how I feel. But I guess Wilpons would have let him walk too so it was inevitable. Oh well. Thanks for reading this if you could get through it
Correa realized the west coast wasn’t big enough for his huge ego!!
Escobar would be a nice pick up for Farhan. In this case, I suspect he would relish the opportunity to make the deal as it could very be the penultimate coda on his career as an mlb exec. Of course, that’s true only if you believe, as I do, that Escobar’s value (WAR/$ spent) will exceed Correa over the next 5 years.
Congrats,SF, on getting out of a foolish albatross of a contract and improving your future immeasurably. Now go sign a couple of quality big league ball players that can help you win some games. You’ll be so happy about this gift in a year or two.
I think all this spending does is make it so MLB dies in 2027. Another lockout will be coming as the owners will all demand a cap after this (minus Cohen). Players won’t accept it and we’ll miss most if not all of a season. That’s sadly where I see this going.
So much flipping money thrown around by Cohen. Even with all that, I don’t know that it will be enough to even win the division. NL East might be baseball’s most exciting division next year.
I’m a Mets fan and the winner of this deal at the end of the day is the Giants. This is an overpay on an extremely long term and to get 7-8 decent years from Correra will be luck.
I wouldn’t be worried about a bad contract as a Mets fan. It appears budget mode has been turned off.
Overpay? Are you kidding me? His Avg earnings is 27 million. For reference, Judge is at 40 million. The later part of the contract can be said with ANY HUGE long-term deal. Look at the whole picture dude.
It will be
I can tell you what some ramifications are. Many of us Giants fans no longer trust Farhan or the front office at all anymore. We feel no reason to and every reason not to.
Giants fans that liked the signing gotta be devastated