Blowing It Up: Twins Trade Carlos Correa Back to Houston Astros, to Save Money

[Squirrel]

3 hours ago, bloomwcjkl said:

Makes perfect sense. Brooks Lee to SS.

Learn the lesson. No $36 million players. Small ball. Billy Beane ball.

I was relieved when Carlos signed with the Mets and then stunned when he came back.

Great guy, but not what the Twins need right now. I like it.

And how many WS did Billy Beane win as a GM? Not sure why anyone thinks Beane ball is a good thing

[JD-TWINS]

25 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

It's a good thing they traded Correa, then. He wasn't one of their 5 best players anymore. He wasn't one of their 20 best players this season.

.300 over last 274 AB’s - 1/3 of season to go…….not really that bad.

Not complaining about moving him and the contract. Saving $20M/year for 3 years.

Took away $11.6M from PEN with a cost of $3.7M to replace 5 spots with young guys…..$7.9M NET savings.

Took away $46M with the 4 position players (assuming $11M is Twin’s share of CC) the NET savings w/o replacements is $35M.

Paddack & Dobnack is another $10M saved.

Total of $53M to be applied to future roster and that’s budgeting the same number in ‘26 as they spent in ‘25.

Buxton - Larnach - Keaschall - Jeffers - Lewis  - Wallner - Lee ………….along with fresh faces in ‘26. 

 

[HrbieFan]

3 hours ago, farmerguychris said:

I know he hasn't been as productive as we would have wished - but we KNOW this salary dump won't  be reinvested in the team.

Pohlads sure make it hard to be a fan.

😠

I have been a Pohlad apologist for awhile and now I'm done! Just an embarrassment to all of us fans. Lets go Brewers! 

[glunn]

3 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

And how many WS did Billy Beane win as a GM? Not sure why anyone thinks Beane ball is a good thing

Based on the movie and what I have read, Beane and his tech guy developed more advanced metrics to evaluate players and find "bargains" that gave the A's more bang for the limited dollars that the team had available.

[Mike Sixel]

From fangraphs:

But ditching Correa like this isn’t a baseball trade. It’s an ownership group of second-generation skinflints settling up with a nine-figure creditor in preparation for selling the team.

[Squirrel]

7 minutes ago, glunn said:

Based on the movie and what I have read, Beane and his tech guy developed more advanced metrics to evaluate players and find "bargains" that gave the A's more bang for the limited dollars that the team had available.

I get that. But never won a WS. That’s the point.

[Squirrel]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

From fangraphs:

But ditching Correa like this isn’t a baseball trade. It’s an ownership group of second-generation skinflints settling up with a nine-figure creditor in preparation for selling the team.

Sell and get it done.

[chopper0080]

6 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

From fangraphs:

But ditching Correa like this isn’t a baseball trade. It’s an ownership group of second-generation skinflints settling up with a nine-figure creditor in preparation for selling the team.

And if we are being honest, the only way the Twins have a chance to be competitive is by being sold. That is the only benefit of the Correa trade.

[DJL44]

25 minutes ago, chopper0080 said:

Who was better? Ryan, Buxton, Duran, Jax and ?

He has a WAR of 0.1. Nearly everyone has been better than Correa this year.

[chopper0080]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

He has a WAR of 0.1. Nearly everyone has been better than Correa this year.

If you really believe this team is more talented with Correa off the roster, we can agree to disagree. 

[glunn]

7 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I get that. But never won a WS. That’s the point.

The point was that Beane developed major advances in player evaluation that were subsequently emulated by most/all other teams.  My sense is that the A's did far better as a result, but Beane did not have enough funds available to win a WS. 

[Steve J]

I guess I don't care who they trade away, as long as it makes it easier for the team to pass from the hands of the Pohlads.  I'd give every last walleye in Minnesota to make that happen.  

[DJL44]

10 minutes ago, chopper0080 said:

If you really believe this team is more talented with Correa off the roster, we can agree to disagree. 

Putting words in my mouth. I never said that. I said they moved a bunch of dead money with Correa's trade. That deal had at least $75M of dead money and they only had to pay down $33M. They were looking forward to 2027 with Correa playing the Ty France role as a good fielding 1B who doesn't hit for power.

[shimrod]

40 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Total of $53M to be applied to future roster and that’s budgeting the same number in ‘26 as they spent in ‘25.

I expect none of that $53M to be applied to the roster. Zero. 

I'm still in favor of the sell off. This team was going nowhere under current management. Time to rip it down to the studs and let a new ownership group build in accordance with their vision. 

[tony&rodney]

40 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Total of $53M to be applied to future roster and that’s budgeting the same number in ‘26 as they spent in ‘25.

Impossible to predict if team will be sold and what direction the team goes towards, but I would not bet $1 that the Twins spend more than $95M next season and I'm including money due Houston.

Larnach will not be tended a contract if he cannot be traded. One or more of the experienced SP are sure to go in the winter. The Twins are in for a rebuild where they are hoping to find guys to play. 

I do wonder if they will push Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and others.

[Vanimal46]

11 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Impossible to predict if team will be sold and what direction the team goes towards, but I would not bet $1 that the Twins spend more than $95M next season and I'm including money due Houston.

Larnach will not be tended a contract if he cannot be traded. One or more of the experienced SP are sure to go in the winter. The Twins are in for a rebuild where they are hoping to find guys to play. 

I do wonder if they will push Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and others.

What happened today, and 4 months later when the offseason begins, will be more extreme than anything the Miami Marlins did. It’s astounding. 

[Mike Sixel]

52 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Sell and get it done.

It's actually third generation.....

[Riverbrian]

2 hours ago, P Meyer said:

The only thing things getting rid of Correa benefits is Correa and the Twins ability to payoff their debt and make the sale easier. It doesn't make the team better.

[glunn]

CBS Sports is giving the Twins an "F" for this trade, viewing it as a salary dump, and giving Houston an "A" for spending to improve their team -- https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/carlos-correa-trade-grades-astros-score-a-for-stunning-deadline-deal-twins-get-their-salary-dump/

My sense is that this would have been a good deal for the Twins even if there were no other moves at the deadline, because Correa is worth a lot less than the balance due to him, but I am jealous of the Houston fans whose owner is willing to overpay to improve the team.

Like many, my biggest gripe is the Varland trade.

 

[DJL44]

17 minutes ago, glunn said:

Like many, my biggest gripe is the Varland trade.

At least Varland was traded for prospects. I do not understand trading Stewart for Outman at all.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Signing Correa to that huge contract and then a few seasons later giving Correa to the Astros PLUS  $33,000,000 just shouts "incompetence" on so many levels. Today the Twins are the laughing stock of major league baseball. Ridiculous!

[RaoulDuke]

What a **** show the Correa experience has been, shows the Twins front office does not know how to deal with big money players.

They got used by Boras to give him a deal with all the leverage, 1 year if you are great or we pay for 2 if you suck, or 3 if you suck again.  Then he has a good year and opts out, seeks big markets, gets big market offers until they actually see the medicals.  Twins swoop in to overpay for him because by god this is their only chance to land a marquee free agent.

Yes he showed up for the 23 playoffs and was awesome, but besides that the long term contract has been a disaster.  It would be less bad if ownership didn't suck and cut payroll, but a team with a restricted payroll can't have a dude making 30+ percent of it not be amazing.

Funniest bit of the this trade deadline is the prospect returned for trading him, a 26 year old A+ ball pitcher with a career ERA of 6.5.  Just a ****ing slap in the face.

 

[madtowntwin]

6 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

There must be a precedent for a sell-off this deep, but I cannot think of one.

I had an easier time digesting 20 rounds of the recent Twins 2025 MLB Draft!!

 

[madtowntwin]

1 hour ago, glunn said:

CBS Sports is giving the Twins an "F" for this trade, viewing it as a salary dump, and giving Houston an "A" for spending to improve their team -- https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/carlos-correa-trade-grades-astros-score-a-for-stunning-deadline-deal-twins-get-their-salary-dump/

My sense is that this would have been a good deal for the Twins even if there were no other moves at the deadline, because Correa is worth a lot less than the balance due to him, but I am jealous of the Houston fans whose owner is willing to overpay to improve the team.

Like many, my biggest gripe is the Varland trade.

 

The "F" was for Frugal....

[Woof Bronzer]

3 hours ago, chopper0080 said:

If you really believe this team is more talented with Correa off the roster, we can agree to disagree. 

Gleeman tweeted that during Correa's tenure the Twins had a winning record when he was out and a losing record when he played.  Not saying it's all him, and I think his performance was overall a net positive when he was here, but he wasn't really a game changer.

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, glunn said:

CBS Sports is giving the Twins an "F" for this trade, viewing it as a salary dump, and giving Houston an "A" for spending to improve their team -- https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/carlos-correa-trade-grades-astros-score-a-for-stunning-deadline-deal-twins-get-their-salary-dump/

My sense is that this would have been a good deal for the Twins even if there were no other moves at the deadline, because Correa is worth a lot less than the balance due to him, but I am jealous of the Houston fans whose owner is willing to overpay to improve the team.

Like many, my biggest gripe is the Varland trade.

 

Unpopular opinion but the Correa trade, even if made solely for money purposes, was a smart baseball move.  Getting someone to take 2/3 of that anchor is good business for a 0 WAR player with a long injury history on the wrong side of 30.  And if the Twins had a young SS in the wings who could provide similar production for 1/25th the salary, it would be a brilliant move - the kind that can help a mid-market team seriously competitive. People want the Twins to be like the Rays - well the Rays would do something like this.  

Actually didn't Houston do this exact thing with Correa/Pena?

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Unpopular opinion but the Correa trade, even if made solely for money purposes, was a smart baseball move.  Getting someone to take 2/3 of that anchor is good business for a 0 WAR player with a long injury history on the wrong side of 30.  And if the Twins had a young SS in the wings who could provide similar production for 1/25th the salary, it would be a brilliant move - the kind that can help a mid-market team seriously competitive. People want the Twins to be like the Rays - well the Rays would do something like this.  

Actually didn't Houston do this exact thing with Correa/Pena?

The Rays trade guys for actual prospects, not a 26 yo in A ball with an 8 ERA......but then, they'd never sign a guy to a massive deal. I don't want the Rays, but I get others do.

I'm not fully opposed to the CC trade! But w/o new owners, that money is not going back into the payroll, but the Pohlad's pockets. 

[Woof Bronzer]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The Rays trade guys for actual prospects, not a 26 yo in A ball with an 8 ERA......but then, they'd never sign a guy to a massive deal. I don't want the Rays, but I get others do.

I'm not fully opposed to the CC trade! But w/o new owners, that money is not going back into the payroll, but the Pohlad's pockets. 

Oh believe me, I don't want to be the Rays either, I'm just saying I think it's really hard for a serious mid market team to be competitive getting replacement-level production from 1/4 of your payroll.

And yes, the Twins are not a serious mid market team, and why they wouldn't pry a better prospect or 2 out of the Astros is one of the many baffling things of this deadline.  And of course the Pohlads won't spend it.  Maybe I should have said "in theory" it was a good move.

[1985Fan]

4 hours ago, ihc70 said:

Sure.  I mean we can do this all day.  Kelly seasons -14, Baldelli -6.  The response was to someone saying Ton Kelly developed great players and Rocco doesn't.  Who were your favorite development stories from 92-98?  Brad Radke?  Marty Cordova?  Ron Coomer?  I love those players, but a manager is really only as good as the tools he's given to work with.  Development should be just about done by the time a player reaches the bigs.

You forget that TK managed in the Twins minor league system before making it to Ray Millers Twins staff. He basically advanced up the system with the core group of players that won the 87 WS; Hrbek, Gaetti, Brunansky, Viola, Bush, etc. He continued to work with players in the big leagues, Ask Morneau about how TK worked with him to learn first base, Plouffe talks about the drills TK ran to teach players different skills. So yes, TK strength was teaching and developing players, even at the big league level. Very different than hands-off Baldelli. 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Joel Sheehan claims Pohlad made this deal..... Not falvey. Is this real?