One Year In: Carlos Correa, Dropping Payroll, and the Future of the Twins

Word behind the scenes is Correa is NOT happy about the payroll decisions because certain assurances were made to him when he signed about spending/competing.  Who knows but it will be very interesting to monitor what happens with his contract.  2024 is going to be a really important year.  I could see him bouncing back in a big way; I could see him taking on a bigger leadership role due to Buxton being a nonfactor; I could also see him get impatient with mediocrity/lack of investment; or continue to decline due to age and health issues.  Big year for Carlos, should be interesting!

Looking at 1 year performance record to determine whether a contract was good or not is a fools errand.  What was promising was how Correa played in the post season.  We can say he gave us $9 million worth of performance for the year,  I would guestimate,  he helped give us much higher return,  if you would count an additional 2 games in the playoffs.  He was clutch and helped us when games.  What is the value of 2 extra home games,  15 mil?  20 Mil?  30 mil?  net profit.   

He looked like the regular Correa.   At a $200 mil contract, it is worth the risk.  I wish they wouldn't have signed and let Lewis and Lee grow into the SS and 3rd base of the future, but a Lee/Julien,  Lewis, Correa infield has the potential to rival any infield in the league.  If we can solidify the outfield and 1st base we have a window opening at possibly giving us a chance at a WS in the next 3-4 years before several young players start becoming free agents.  

45 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Word behind the scenes is Correa is NOT happy about the payroll decisions because certain assurances were made to him when he signed about spending/competing.  Who knows but it will be very interesting to monitor what happens with his contract.  2024 is going to be a really important year.  I could see him bouncing back in a big way; I could see him taking on a bigger leadership role due to Buxton being a nonfactor; I could also see him get impatient with mediocrity/lack of investment; or continue to decline due to age and health issues.  Big year for Carlos, should be interesting!

Curious where that rumor mill is coming from.  Besides that the payroll is being determined by the TV contracts.  Once that is resolved most likely we are back on the previous tract.  I would be curious if Correa is that unhappy has a great year if he would want to be traded. Correa on a 4 Year 132 million contract with options is a very reasonable contract especially if he puts up a 4-6 WAR this year.  

If Correa performs, we should be able to put more than enough quality players around the team to continue to compete.   Pablo Lopez signing an extension was huge.  You have a #1 or #2 pitcher locked in for 4 years.   The bullpen is still a bit of a question mark but begins to be less cloudy if we can find 1 more young elite pitcher to add in there (Varland anyone LOL).   The long-term picture for the Twins looks very good to me.   

As long as the Twins continue to do well in the drafts like they have, the foreseeable future looks very good.  The 2022 draft was a knockout (and thats even with Priellip having a set back), if 2023 is even better which it has the possibility then we should have more than enough solid arms and bats coming up through the system in the next 2-3 years to put on the field or for potential trades.   

Looking at Woofs previous post,  I will take what he claimed here with a grain of salt.  He has a strong disdain for the reduction in payroll and the Pohlads.    It doesn't mean the claim isn't true, but with nothing else to back it up its as substantive as Sonny stating he wanted to retire LOL.  

The ripple effect is huge.

First, when a team comes out and publicly says, we’re more concerned about $20-30 million dollars than winning.  Who the hell is going to want to play here?  We lament players opting to sign elsewhere for the same or less money….this is why.

What do you think that does the clubhouse?  Imagine your boss came into work and said, “huge project coming up, figure out how to get it done.  Oh, that help we talked about? yeah, we decided we’d rather clear an extra $20k and tack it on to our executive bonus package.  I don’t really care if you succeed or fail, I’m getting a corvette.”  How hard are you going to want to work?  How much more likely are you to want out?

Whether it materializes or not, they already said it in the media.  How freaking dumb is that?  Unbelievably poor management and long-term business strategy on all fronts.  What a **** show.

Correa solidifies the infield. Hopefully he plays 140+ games and improves his numbers at the dish, returning to career averages at least. Big contract, so we hope he stays on the field. Great shortstop because of how consistent he is with his glove.

The payroll issue may be short-lived. We have no control over it, so worrying about it becomes like hoping for bad luck. The extra money last year did provide for depth. Going forward the younger, less expensive players will need to pick up their opportunities and perform.

The payroll does influence the future of the team in as much as the team will need to get production from their farm. This should mean the team is careful about what prospects are held tightly and not included in any trades. Guys like David Festa and Marco Raya are key to the Twins going forward. While Raya is still be closely limited in his usage and his future MLB starting status unsure, Festa has shown that his stuff plays. He is capable of being a #2-4 SP. The dude just needs the experiences needed to understand how to shape his pitches and command consistently. Learning and muscle memory take time. The Twins also have some interesting bats on the farm, led by three top 50 global prospects: Lee, Rodriguez, and Jenkins. This coming year is very important to see what each can do to show their long term value.

Look what happened with Mets last year? One of biggest payrolls and 👎same with the Yankees-hated to see sonny go but we have great young players as well one if best drafts from last year. Twins will be just fine!! CC will have huge bounce back year and Royce will play full season-hopefully 40-50 home runs and 120-130 rbis. Can’t wait for season to start!!! Future is looking bright for many many many years!!!

7 hours ago, Beast said:

The ripple effect is huge.

First, when a team comes out and publicly says, we’re more concerned about $20-30 million dollars than winning.  Who the hell is going to want to play here?  We lament players opting to sign elsewhere for the same or less money….this is why.

What do you think that does the clubhouse?  Imagine your boss came into work and said, “huge project coming up, figure out how to get it done.  Oh, that help we talked about? yeah, we decided we’d rather clear an extra $20k and tack it on to our executive bonus package.  I don’t really care if you succeed or fail, I’m getting a corvette.”  How hard are you going to want to work?  How much more likely are you to want out?

Whether it materializes or not, they already said it in the media.  How freaking dumb is that?  Unbelievably poor management and long-term business strategy on all fronts.  What a **** show.

Every place I have worked always had a budget based on revenue.  Expensive people were forced out to decrease costs.. People I know in corporate America run into the project scenario all the time.  They are asked to do more for the same pay, yearly wage increase of1-2 while the CEOs get a million dollar raise 

19 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Word behind the scenes is Correa is NOT happy about the payroll decisions because certain assurances were made to him when he signed about spending/competing.  Who knows but it will be very interesting to monitor what happens with his contract.  2024 is going to be a really important year.  I could see him bouncing back in a big way; I could see him taking on a bigger leadership role due to Buxton being a nonfactor; I could also see him get impatient with mediocrity/lack of investment; or continue to decline due to age and health issues.  Big year for Carlos, should be interesting!

I also don't know anything about some sort of "word behind the scenes" but Correa is obviously a serious competitor who wants to win NOW. I can't imagine he would be happy to see the Twins go into a cost-cutting off-season where they don't make any helpful additions to the team. Sure, it's still early, but I'm not seeing/hearing anything encouraging on our Twins grapevine. Trades? Signings? Wire Claims? Nothing happening yet. 

29 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

I also don't know anything about some sort of "word behind the scenes" but Correa is obviously a serious competitor who wants to win NOW. I can't imagine he would be happy to see the Twins go into a cost-cutting off-season where they don't make any helpful additions to the team. Sure, it's still early, but I'm not seeing/hearing anything encouraging on our Twins grapevine. Trades? Signings? Wire Claims? Nothing happening yet. 

It is barely December., of course things haven’t happened yet. You probably don’t remember Vodka Dave.  He was a regular contributor who was adamant that Dozier was going to LA for multiple prospects,  DeLeon was going to be a Twin. It was a done deal. A few years and quite a few teams later DeLeon became a Twin.  People claim all sorts of things. You just have to ignore their posts or just smile at them. I do wish Dave would have come back when DeLeon was called up and said “I told you so, DeLeon is gonna be a Twin”

It’s understandable that the clubhouse would be concerned by lower payroll but at the same time all the young guys should be looking at their own opportunity to improve so they get the big paycheck. It’s possible to cover the 250 innings of Gray and Maeda if guys step up todo it.  Everyone is down on C4 but if he takes us deeper into the playoffs in ‘24, you haters better make that crow sammich and eat it. 
the payroll issue will work itself out in time. Relax a bit, it’s holiday season. 

23 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

What word behind the scenes?  I've not heard nor read anything about him A) being assured about spending levels and B) being unhappy with our stated direction this year.  Be specific when throwing out stuff like this please.

Yeah take it with a grain of salt, just what I heard from someone I know over there.  Correa is never going to say anything publicly anyhow.  I would find it odd though if him and the Twins did not take about spending and competing for a Series before he signed.  He's a competitor and I find it really hard to believe he'd want to commit here for the rest of his career without feeling good about the spending philosophy.  Would you?  Unless he just cared about the money.  

No thanks on being specific when commenting on a fan site though, that would ruin the fun :)

You mention this slightly in the OP as well as others in the comments, but Correa in the playoffs was everything we ever asked for.  Without Correa, I don't think the Twins would have won a playoff series this year.  It might not be captured in WAR values, but in almost a Mastercard slogan in reverse, Correa's contract was priceless because of this.

All of the youth and pre-arb / arbitration contracts will be fun to see impact the team over the next few years.  There will probably be a few mid-range contract extensions (similar to Kepler or Polanco) to help keep costs standard and there will probably be a few that they end up trading or not signing further because of the cost.  At this point though, I'm not too worried about long-term budget issues for the Twins.

Correa and the team budget are not problems. The Twins need to have an idea of their roster priorities and adjust accordingly. As far as the future, things are looking good. The Twins have a decent group of young players and a full system of prospects working for an opportunity. The farm is rated more or less in the middle of all of baseball which means there are plenty of potential athletes who can be developed.

Having Correa on this team is a tremendous thing. He's not blocking anyone. He's a pro's pro. You work your prospects around him. Even if that means moving Lee to 1b or 2b.