Carlos Correa Wants to Lead a Second Team to a Title. How Often Has That Happened?

[Matt Braun]

More specifically, who has done it recently?

Image courtesy of © Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Tuesday, Carlos Correa spoke to the media at Twins spring training on a variety of topics, ranging from injury questions (he’s fine), to Jose Altuve playing left field (“that little man can do anything. He’ll be fine.”). Nestled near the end of the scrum were comments regarding his desire to lead the Twins to a championship.

“That’s my dream, ever since I got here,” Correa said. “If we can win the World Series, that will make me very happy and cement my legacy as a world champion in two different organizations.”

It’s what drives him. It’s what gets him out of bed in the morning. 

That’s the kind of talk you’d expect from a cerebral but tenacious competitor like Correa, and it begs a question: how many players have led multiple teams to a World Series win? We’re not just talking about role players here: how many bona fide studs—All-Stars and MVP vote-getters—have changed franchises and brought both to the promised land?

I looked through the rosters of the World Series winners since 2000 to find players who were both great and established leaders for the teams they won it with. Those parameters give us seven position players who accomplished Correa’s dream. They all put up at least 5 rWAR (what I broadly defined as “great”), although not necessarily in the seasons they won the World Series in. Here’s the list: Mike Lowell, Johnny Damon, Shane Victorino, Ben Zobrist, Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, and Freddie Freeman.

Seven may seem low, but it’s like the “Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are the only two starting QBs to win a Super Bowl with multiple franchises” stat; if a team has a guy good enough to deliver them a championship, they tend to keep that player, perhaps forever, but at least untul they're no longer capable of carrying a team that far. 

With all due respect to Lowell, Damon, Victorino, and Zobrist—all tremendous and deeply memorable players—they aren’t quite what we’re looking for. They were ancillary players—necessary pieces to win the Whole Darn Thing—but to say they “led” their teams to championships is like saying George Harrison "led" The Beatles to 20 No. 1 hits. While "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" are some of the band's finest work, Lennon and McCartney were the engines of the car. 

That leaves us three guys tied to the Dodgers: Betts, Seager, and Freeman. 

I don’t think Freeman works here. That Dodgers team was stacked. As critical as he was, especially in the Series itself, I can’t use him. 

Betts is a more compelling character because, in 2020, L.A. was simply a very good team, not the world-conquering leviathan of talent they are now. There’s something almost folksy to the fact that AJ Pollock was their starting left fielder. The next-best player on that team was Cody Bellinger, but Bellinger was in the beginning of his decline at that point, so Betts comes out on top. It’s a similar story for his 2018 win with Boston; J.D. Martinez was incredible that year, but Betts was basically prime Roberto Clemente (who kind of won with two different teams himself; the core of the 1960 Pirates had entirely turned over by 1971, except for him). That's not a bad example for Correa to follow.

We can go even further. For the most accurate comparison, I think Seager takes the cake—ironic, given that the two are juxtaposed by the infamous 2017 World Series. Anyway, the youngest of the three Seagers (yes, there’s even another out there), reached the mountaintop in 2020 with Betts's Dodgers and jumped ship to the Rangers after the 2021 season, eventually leading them to their first World Series win in 2023. They both play shortstop. Like Correa, Seager signed with a team outside the Big 5 (Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox), and as Correa would, he holds a special place in a fan base's collective heart as a result.

I think if there’s anything to take away from this, it’s that what Correa is attempting to do is rare, but not unheard of. A handful of very good players have won championships with multiple teams; a trio did so under the pressure of being more or less the main character; and one accomplished this while jumping down a tier in market size. As always, there’s plenty of great history in the process of being written. Correa absolutely could become the next in a short line of exceptional players claiming multiple rings with different logos on them.

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John Bonnes contributed reporting to this piece.

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[tony&rodney]

Correa leading the Twins to a World Series title would be sweet, but it would need to be on the backs of pitching and young players not yet established.

[DJL44]

Freddie Freeman shouldn't be disqualified. He's an MVP caliber player, probably a future Hall of Famer. Plus, he was the actual World Series MVP in 2024.

[LambchoP]

If this is ever going to happen he's going to need to stay on the field for the whole season. If we could ever get just one full year of Correa, Buxton and Lewis together, we might have a shot. 

[Doctor Gast]

Correa is the X factor that's able to take us to the World Series. But I'm afraid that our window with Correa is closing because of not seeing our real needs & initiating & closing the necessary trades to meet those needs. We are too dependent on other teams to come to us with those trades. Next year could be different but would it be too late?

[bean5302]

16 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

If this is ever going to happen he's going to need to stay on the field for the whole season. If we could ever get just one full year of Correa, Buxton and Lewis together, we might have a shot. 

Buxton will never, ever have a full season. 100 games was a serious milestone for him and he and his family celebrated it. He's got a ton of chronic issues which will never go away. Back, migraine, knees. He's going to miss time, and I think it's unfair to even expect more than 80 games. It's why the Twins signed Bader. Buxton simply will not play a full season.

Correa has been one of the more durable players in MLB over the past several years. He's qualified for a championship award (504 PA+) in 2021, 2022, and again in 2023. Being healthy is obviously important, but he's taking a bit too much criticism for health due to recency bias.

The jury is totally out on Lewis, but it doesn't look good for his durability. Hopefully, the lower body has fully healed and strengthened itself up. Doctors warned of the high risk for Lewis to have the quad injury and the hip injury as the injuries chain together in a waterfall throughout the healing/strengthening process as each segment of the chain takes added stress. We'll probably know if Lewis will ever be the player he once was in terms of athleticism by the end of April. If we see those sprint speeds north of 28 ft/sec.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

If this is ever going to happen he's going to need to stay on the field for the whole season. If we could ever get just one full year of Correa, Buxton and Lewis together, we might have a shot. 

You need one full month of Correa, Buxton and Lewis together - in October.

[RpR]

20 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You need one full month of Correa, Buxton and Lewis together - in October.

Yep, Lewis is what is needed.😑

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, RpR said:

Yep, Lewis is what is needed.😑

Always willing to miss the point in order to bash someone using a small data sample. Never change.

[IndianaTwin]

If you are going to discount Freeman because of the presence of Betts, wouldn't you similarly have to discount Correa because of the presence of Altuve? At least in bWAR, Altuve "led" the team.

 

 

[LastOnePicked]

I just can't see this happening here. Roster, coaching, FO - none of these would suggest an organization capable of winning a title. The window was possibly open after 2023, but ownership chose to retreat.

[old nurse]

Interesting, Zobrist and Damon were auxiliary pieces when their bats were essential to all 4 teams and Zobrist wa series MVP for the Cubs. If they were auxiliary pieces then so was Correa for the Astros. It has been Altuve’s team 

[Fatbat]

Freeman has to be included because if he had had a season ending injury in say June’24. The butterfly affect may well have taken out the Dodger WS chances. 
 

Im penciling the twins and C4 into the’25 WS record books as “Champs” 

[FargoFanMan]

If that is to happen they need an ownership group and a front office to stop pulling back on the reins at the deadline and the off-season. 2023 was the deadline to add to bolster the team and they did nothing. 2024 was the deadline to add to help the team get into the playoffs and allow everyone to come back in October. They did nothing. Same thing Terry Ryan always did. Same thing Falvey has done. That’s when you know without a doubt it’s the Pohlads that have been holding this franchise back for decades. They put enough shekels in the pot to put butts in the seats but never enough to be the last ones standing.