Shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract, a record-long deal that is the richest ever for the position and gives the organization a franchise-caliber player, who they plan to build their future around, sources close to the situation told ESPN.
The free agent path of Correa, 28, was far less stressful than last year, when he entered the market in hopes of landing a contract in excess of $300 million, but wound up having to settle for signing a shorter-term contract with the Minnesota Twins that included an opt-out after the first season. This offseason, Correa discovered a market that was much more lucrative and lavished $300 million on Trea Turner and $280 million on Xander Bogaerts that was far more to his liking, and he ended up with the second-largest deal, behind Aaron Judge’s nine-year, $360 million contract with the New York Yankees.
The 13 years equals Bryce Harper’s $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in March of 2019, and similar to Harper, Correa was granted a full no-trade clause and a contract without any opt-outs, sources said.
The $350 million exceeds the $341 million shortstop Francisco Lindor received from the New York Mets and the $340 million for shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. with the San Diego Padres. And in the history of baseball, only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, Mookie Betts’ $365 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Judge’s exceed it in value.
About 12 months after rejecting a five-year, $160 million contract with the Houston Astros, with whom Correa developed into a star, he earned more than double that amount in the aftermath of of a single season spent with the Twins, with whom he collected $35.1 million before opting out of the final two years of his deal. In his lone campaign with Minnesota, Correa looked like his old self, hitting .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs in 136 games. While he did not match his Platinum Glove-winning 2021 season, Correa is thought of as one of baseball’s best defensive shortstops, posting his fourth season with 5.0-plus wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
The Giants took care of him like a superstar, as the combination of Correa’s position, age and productivity, regular season and postseason, convinced them to make him one of the highest-earning players in baseball. Before Correa, the last player the Giants signed to a $100 million-plus contract was pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was given a six-year, $130 million deal in December 2015.
At baseball’s winter meetings that took place last week, the Giants had aspirations to secure a deal for Judge, the reigning American League MVP. But the Yankees raised their offer to $40 million per year, and Judge agreed to remain in New York instead of going home to northern California. With Turner and Bogaerts off the board too, the opportunity to sign a foundational player had dwindled down to Correa and former Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.
Since the retirement of long-time catcher Buster Posey following the 2021 season, the Giants had been searching for a star to be the start of something new, looking beyond the glory years of 2010, 2012, and 2014, when San Francisco won three World Series, and prior to that, when Barry Bonds put on a show to sellout crowds nightly. Correa has the confidence and ability to be just that.
Excellence was already in the cards for him after he was selected by the Astros with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. He shot through the minor league and debuted at 20 years old in 2015, taking home AL Rookie of the Year honors. In only his second year, Correa was already one of the top players in all of baseball. And in 2017, he was a key contributor in helping the Astros win their inaugural World Series title, hitting five home runs and driving in 14 runs in 18 postseason games.
The Astros continued their winning way, reaching the AL Championship Series in 2018 and the World Series in 2019, with Correa a foundational player for their success. But the revelation in November 2019 that Houston had used a sign-stealing scheme during their championship season stained the title and landed especially hard on Correa, who was outspoken in his defense of the team.
Correa’s excellence continued unabated. He was among the best players in the 2020 postseason and again played well in 2021, pushing his career postseason line to .272/.344/.505 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs in 79 games. With shortstop prospect Jeremy Pena primed to reach the big leagues, though, Houston parted ways from Correa, whose free agent market never materialized after an early courting with the Detroit Tigers and led to him signing a three-year, $105.3 million contract with the Twins.
With Minnesota, Correa quickly established himself as a clubhouse leader, and over his final 120 games, he hit .307/.381/.496 with 21 home runs. The Twins were optimistic that he would return but understood the fact that his market would be unlikely to break the same way it did following 2021.
Over his eight-year career, Correa has compiled nearly 40 rWAR, only Trout, Betts, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado have more in the same stretch — and a career line of .279/.357/.479 with 155 home runs and 553 RBIs in 888 games. His 12.6 defensive WAR rank fourth, behind Andrelton Simmons, Kevin Kiermaier and Arenado.
Just how long Correa stays at shortstop is a question multiple executives wondered during his free agency. The outs above average metric placed him in the bottom 20% of shortstops last season, while defensive runs saved pegged him as slightly above average. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Correa is among the game’s biggest players at shortstop, where he has played all 881 of his career games in the field.
Regardless of where Correa’s glove winds up, his bat will determine whether the megadeal was worth it in the end. And in the short term, it will help determine whether Correa again reaches the playoffs, this time with a Giants team that won the National League West in 2021 but finished with a .500 record, 81-81 this year, or, for the first time in his career, misses it in consecutive seasons.
