What, Carlos Correa worry? Sure, he’s batting .192 with a 577 OPS, but he barely had a spring training and rarely is at his best in April. He’s healthy. He and his wife, Daniella, are enjoying their son, Kylo, who turns 5 months old on Friday. Correa’s $35.1 million salary is the highest for an infielder in major-league history, and guess what? He can opt out of his three-year contract with the Twins after this season and try free agency again.
Not that Correa is necessarily thinking along those lines, at least not yet. He loves his new club, the Minnesota Twins, loves being teammates with center fielder Byron Buxton, whom he calls the “best player in the game.” The season is less than one-tenth complete, but Correa said Saturday he already has spoken with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, general manager Thad Levine and Rocco Baldelli, expressing his willingness to sign for a longer term.
“I told ‘em, ‘Hey guys, I know I have the opt-outs in the contract. But I really like it here,’” Correa said. “‘I love the people here. I love the way I’m treated here. If you guys see the value I bring to this organization and what I do for other people around me and the game that I bring, I would love to have a long-term relationship here if that’s what you guys would like.’
“My wife feels right at home in Minnesota. My son is growing up. We feel right at home already and it’s only been two or three weeks of the season. That’s where I’m at mentally.”
Informed of Correa’s remarks, Falvey said the Twins were excited when Correa viewed them as a fit in March, and are encouraged that his early impressions of the team’s environment are positive. He also said the team plans to continue a dialogue with Correa and his agent, Scott Boras.
“This offseason was obviously a unique one and the creativity that led to the ultimate contract structure made sense all around,” Falvey said. “It was our hope then that he’d want to be here for the long-term and nothing about that sentiment has changed. Now out of respect for Carlos and for our team’s focus on the field, we don’t comment publicly on contracts in-season, but I certainly expect we’ll maintain open lines of communication with both Carlos and Scott.”
The best bet, of course, is that Correa will opt out. The Twins then would be forced to compete for him in a normal free-agent market as opposed to an unprecedented post-lockout frenzy in which no team offered him the long-term deal he wanted. Such were the conditions that led to his three-year, $105.3 million contract with Minnesota that includes opt outs after the 2022 and 2023 seasons.