Twins Video
On Saturday, the New York Post published a column from Joel Sherman suggesting the following premise: "Yankees, Mets should test Twins’ waters for possible Carlos Correa trade." He proposes that both teams explore the possibility of acquiring Minnesota's All-Star shortstop, two years into a historic contract signed in 2023.
Sherman's reasoning comes together like this:
- "Structurally, the Twins don’t work." Their core trio of Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis is too injury-prone to elevate the team.
- "Financially, the Twins don’t work well." Too much of their now-limited payroll is invested in Correa to properly build around him.
- Correa's contract and checkered availability make much more sense for a big-market team with more robust resources than the Twins.
Interestingly, the article includes a quote from Derek Falvey in which he directly addresses the topic, acknowledging that the Twins have "been hit" in the past with trade interest on Correa, as well as Buxton and Lewis, while conspicuously not ruling out anything out.
“If they came at us, we’re open-minded to anything,” the Twins president of baseball operations shared. “Obviously Carlos has a full no-trade clause. We love him. We’re always open-minded when team teams hit us on all of our players. We’ve been hit on Carlos before, we’ve been hit on Byron [Buxton] before, we’ve been hit on Royce [Lewis] before. That’s not shocking to anybody, but we hold an extremely high bar to even start that conversation, and I still feel like those guys are critical to our success.”
It might be temping to pass this off as a New York writer stirring up attention with the classic "I want that" declaration coveting a small-market star. However, that quote from Falvey was anything but dismissive. I will note that Sherman's been around quite a while and is fairly plugged in. Moreover, it's not hard to accept the logic behind either NY team being interested in Correa.
The Yankees came just short of winning the World Series, with a lineup that could greatly benefit from one more star hitter (and fielder). The Mets, of course, had an agreement with Correa fall through when he was a free agent, but their dream of playing him alongside Francisco Lindor could still be in play. As Sherman notes, the amended offer to Correa from the Mets (6 years, $157 million) was not too far off from what he ultimately got from the Twins.
I can also, sadly, see the logic of trading Correa from Minnesota's perspective, given the circumstances. There's no way around it: his guaranteed contract over the next several years is a major impediment for a front office now obliged to keep payroll in the $125 million range. As salaries escalate across the roster in arbitration, it will grow increasingly difficult to keep the talent core together and maintain a club capable of competing when Correa is absent – a reality that by now must be planned around.
With that said ... This would be so depressing from my view. The signing of Correa was a signature moment in franchise history; the moment that Minnesota finally rose to the occasion and paid the freight for a premier superstar in an emphatic commitment to winning. Dumping that contract to a New York-based team two years later would completely undo its impact while bringing back to the surface every negative connotation associated with this team. As a fan, it would be exceedingly difficult to stomach, making you wonder what was even the point.
The Twins and Yankees do have recent history of creative salary-relief trades. It was the unloading of Josh Donaldson in 2022 that opened the door for signing Correa to begin with. And that worked out well enough for Minnesota. But trading Correa would rightfully be received very differently from trading Donaldson, who was an underperforming malcontent.
Correa has delivered in his first two years as a Twin, leading them to a playoff advancement in 2023 and playing at an MVP-caliber level on when on the field in 2024. He is critical to any legitimate hopes of World Series contention in 2025. It's almost impossible to envision a Correa trade that actually makes the team better, and giving him away as a pure salary dump in the name of right-sizing payroll would be damningly pathetic.
I know where I stand on this topic, but I'm curious to hear from you all. What's your temperature on trading Correa? How open should the front office be to these kinds of proposed inquiries from clubs that might be better equipped to absorb his contract? Let's hear from you in the comments.
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