Bob Nightengale: Astros Exploring Reunion With Carlos Correa

[The Great Hambino]

4 minutes ago, mickster said:

Disagree.   Paddack brought a lottery ticket C.   I am sure 90% on here all year wanted him off the team.  Now they can bid for him back

If they were prioritizing the prospect return over salary savings, they wouldn't have included Dobnak.  He is negative trade value

[jaimedude]

I bet Astros will want Castro to take Correa's salary back. This isn't like the old day's the Twins will get offered a C level  to striuggling player prospect package. This is a pure salary dump by Pohlads no matter how they spun it this deal if it goes through. 

[Mike Sixel]

I'd trade him. I think the owners pocket the money, and I think he could be good again, but I think he could decline. This team isn't winning with old guys, and maybe if they get rid of CC, they'll go young everywhere. Which also might not work! But it might discourage the France type signing..... I'm just done with this core.

[jaimedude]

We should all hope new owners announced soon. Poorly managed organization with not great development of either pitching or hitting at least at the high levels. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

24 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Lots of things to figure out for sure. 

Rumors around the deadline are fun aren't they? :)

With six sites to cover, they're becoming less fun and more stressful. So many things bouncing around at once.

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

With six sites to cover, they're becoming less fun and more stressful. So many things bouncing around at once.

Having baseball as a distraction from reality still helps me I must say. But I get that too. 

[FilthyMogwai]

I like the concept of Correa, more than Correa himself. The idea that the Twins could sign a big name FA. Selling him and rebuilding has me back in that perpetually gloomy fan mindset that unless something changes with the economics of the game, this team will always be in rebuild or semi-rebuild mode. What fun is it running out all these prospects if they pan out and the team becomes competitive, and too expensive and then they're shipped off to larger markets? 

I'd like to think new ownership can bring bigger pockets, more creativity to building a contending team and finding revenue streams, but I'm doubting that's ever going to happen.

I've seen some lean years from this team, but this is the lowest I've felt since becoming a fan in 1988.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Anyway, I'm 3 steps ahead here.

A good place to be, or to be aware of anyway.

A place this organization probably hasn’t been in since the early 2000s

[NYCTK]

Carlos Correa has been paid about $140 Million to produce 10.4 WAR and win one playoff series. He's been an absolute bust of an investment. 

The remaining 3 yrs and $96 Million on his contract would be so much better spent elsewhere and with this team having to do a reset, big or small, of their roster, getting rid of Correa is the PERFECT solution. 

Plus, I've never liked him as a player. 

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, The Great Hambino said:

But it's a moot point anyway if the Astros' expectation is that the Twins retain a significant chunk of salary. 

I could see a handful of one year deals in what I absolutely believe to be a transition year in 2026. Thinks could work out and go well, or they could see them selling off a bunch of players in exactly one year's time and then getting to the next era of Twins baseball with Jenkins, Culpepper, et al.

Win-win. 

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Absolutely not. Losing Correa's salary just gives the Pohlads an excuse to further lower payroll. Correa makes around $30m next season.

Someone tell me with a straight face that if the Pohlads somehow get out of that $30m, they will reinvest $30m back into payroll.

They won't reinvest a penny 

[twinfan]

I like the way Correa helps the young hitters but he's too expensive for his stats right now. If we can get 2 good players for him, I say do it and pay 5-10 mil for this season. But don't just give him away.

[Possumlad]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Absolutely not. Losing Correa's salary just gives the Pohlads an excuse to further lower payroll. Correa makes around $30m next season.

Someone tell me with a straight face that if the Pohlads somehow get out of that $30m, they will reinvest $30m back into payroll.

Correa's playing time & dollars are far better spent elsewhere (whether they spend all the savings or not). Moving on is absolutely the right move - I'd trade him for nothing just to be out of the contract & free up the playing time.

[Parfigliano]

43 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

With six sites to cover, they're becoming less fun and more stressful. So many things bouncing around at once.

Baseball is a cruel mistress.

[Otto von Ballpark]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Is there a chance they swap disappointments? Correa for Christian Walker saves the Twins $50M and fills the giant hole at 1B.

That seems like the most likely path, if this were to actually happen, given the Astros desire to stay under the luxury tax threshold and the Twins likely desire to not simply send a ton of cash.

Cristian Javier or Lance McCullers Jr. could be additional salary dump options for the Astros.

FWIW, all three (Walker, Javier, and McCullers) have some kind of limited no-trade protection -- no idea if that includes the Twins.

[Parfigliano]

Correa goes back to HOU and I fully expect him to end the year with an OPS higher then .750

[nicksaviking]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Absolutely not. Losing Correa's salary just gives the Pohlads an excuse to further lower payroll. Correa makes around $30m next season.

Someone tell me with a straight face that if the Pohlads somehow get out of that $30m, they will reinvest $30m back into payroll.

And even if they did, I have zero interest in six 5M players.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

If the Twins paid some of Correa’s contract in order to get some actual prospect capital in return and it wasn’t just a salary dump, I could be in favor.

unfortunately packaging Dobnak with Paddack lends me to believe that the opposite would happen and I would be quite upset. I was upset about pocketing the couch cushion money for Dobber and taking a reduced prospect.

[nicksaviking]

Correa seems like a guy who will up his game when motivated. That's obviously not a ringing endorsement, but if he goes to Houston, I fully expect him to return to glory and make the Twins look foolish immediately.

And similarly, if the Twins do get sold and new owners inject new life into this franchise, I'd think he'd be very likely to return to form here next year and help lead an improved team back to the playoffs.

On the other hand, if the Pohlads are staying, or new owners are no different, then yeah, I'd expect Correa to produce similarly to what he's doing now.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, LakesPibble said:

OMG yes please.

He's not going to magically get younger.  And even if the Pohlads don't reinvest all $30MM,+ if it frees up even $15MM that's a lot of money.

 

This really is the question that makes this hard to gauge. If I thought that by saving Correa's $30 million plus the next three years, the team would reinvest that money in things like keeping arbitration raise eligible players, signing Joe Ryan to a longer-term deal, and getting a decent free agent, plus getting a 40 FV kind of prospect from Houston, I'm all in favor. If, on the other hand, if current ownership just pockets the money, I say screw current ownership and let's keep Correa. How I react to this kind of depends on what I think likely to happen in the future, an analysis that is almost impossible with the team for sale and a totally unknown prospective buyer working on completing a deal.

I'm an optimist by nature. I say if the Astros don't require us to retain much money that would hamper moves in the future and are willing to part with a roughly 40 FV prospect, trade Correa. It frees up significant payroll space for a new owner to make a splash by signing Joe Ryan to a long-term deal and/or picking up a free agent hitter in the off-season. It also gives us a chance to find out if Brooks Lee and/or Culpepper can be a long-term shortstop over the next 60 games. My optimistic nature is that a new owner will want to win and so will want to make a bit of a splash while taking over, so he will spend the savings by retaining Ryan and picking up a solid free-agent bat in the 15 – $20 million a year range, assuming such a animal exists. That's a win.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

17 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Correa goes back to HOU and I fully expect him to end the year with an OPS higher then .750

100% guaranteed he springs back to life 

Only thing is he may need to agree to move to third base when Peña returns. 

[twinstalker]

3 hours ago, Cody Schoenmann said:

THIS IS RICH COMING FROM A BREWERS FAN 

(also, i'd love to take Brice Matthews off Houston's hands) 

I don't think much of Brice Matthews, but I highly doubt the Twins get a decent prospect for someone taking on Correa's contract.  Matthews Ks at 30-33% in minors, would not even be viable here.  Maybe that is the guy they get back.  Houston doesn't necessarily have or get the best prospects, but they almost always make great decisions on them once they're in the system (Wilyer Abreu excluded).

Another look at the Astros situation has me thinking they would need to trade back salary.  It wouldn't shock me if the Twins got back Cristian Javier ($10.4) and FA to be Victor Caratini ($6), perhaps among others.  Javier's salary the next two years is $21.4, but at least he has some value when healthy (he's at the end of TJS recovery now).  That would save Minnesota $11.4 million in '26 and $10.4 million in '27 and Correa's full $31.3 million in 2028.  It's probably the right move if it's imperative to dump salary. 

[Vanimal46]

18 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Correa seems like a guy who will up his game when motivated. That's obviously not a ringing endorsement, but if he goes to Houston, I fully expect him to return to glory and make the Twins look foolish immediately.

And similarly, if the Twins do get sold and new owners inject new life into this franchise, I'd think he'd be very likely to return to form here next year and help lead an improved team back to the playoffs.

On the other hand, if the Pohlads are staying, or new owners are no different, then yeah, I'd expect Correa to produce similarly to what he's doing now.

Remember last year when Correa was playing armchair GM and gave Falvey a list of preferred trade targets at the deadline? And Falvey did nothing? That’s probably when the wind was taken out of Correa’s sails here in Minnesota. 

[nicksaviking]

7 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Remember last year when Correa was playing armchair GM and gave Falvey a list of preferred trade targets at the deadline? And Falvey did nothing? That’s probably when the wind was taken out of Correa’s sails here in Minnesota. 

I think that was 2023 when the team was actually good, because I remember him saying he didn't want them to trade Miranda......

But yeah, I fully expect the wind is out of his sails here. And not just him.

[Vanimal46]

Probably not enough time to get this figured out before the deadline. Falvey should have higher priorities to finish before tomorrow. 

[PseudoSABR]

 

[mluebker]

Pull the trigger on this quickly, before they sober up in Houston. Sure the Twins will have to cover some of Correa’s salary, but he’s already babying his delicate legs and he’s not likely to reverse the aging process. His best years are behind him. Let’s hope the Pohlads are willing to invest at least some of whatever savings they can generate into young talent. Time to start building the Twins of the future and stop platooning rentals and reclamation projects. 

[mluebker]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Correa seems like a guy who will up his game when motivated. That's obviously not a ringing endorsement, but if he goes to Houston, I fully expect him to return to glory and make the Twins look foolish immediately.

Agree, and don’t care if that’s the case. Either way, the Twins won’t be getting that performance out of him.

[mluebker]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

Correa goes back to HOU and I fully expect him to end the year with an OPS higher then .750

It’s inevitable. But if the Twins can’t get that performance out of him, then send him on his way.

[FilthyMogwai]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Correa seems like a guy who will up his game when motivated. That's obviously not a ringing endorsement, but if he goes to Houston, I fully expect him to return to glory and make the Twins look foolish immediately.

And similarly, if the Twins do get sold and new owners inject new life into this franchise, I'd think he'd be very likely to return to form here next year and help lead an improved team back to the playoffs.

On the other hand, if the Pohlads are staying, or new owners are no different, then yeah, I'd expect Correa to produce similarly to what he's doing now.

Exactly.