Carlos Correa, understandably, was left stunned after he heard his deal with the Giants might fall apart.
In an offseason unlike any other in baseball history, the star shortstop officially signed a six-year, $200 million contract with the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, less than a month after his reported 13-year, $350 million agreement with the Giants and subsequent 12-year, $315 million agreement with the New York Mets.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Friday, Correa was asked about his initial reaction upon hearing from the Giants about the concern surrounding his physical. After returning to his San Francisco hotel room the night before his scheduled press conference at Oracle Park, Correa received an ominous phone call from agent Scott Boras.
“I was looking for houses already over there,” Correa told Rosenthal. “Then I get back to the hotel that night, and Scott calls me. I remember last time (in free agency) when he called me with Minnesota, he was like, ‘Congratulations. It’s official. You’re going to Minnesota.’ This time, he said, ‘I need you to come to the room. We need to talk.’”
“At that point, I knew something was wrong. His voice sounded serious. There was not a lot of energy behind it. I headed over to his room and that’s when he told me. He said, ‘We’re having a problem with the physical. They’re talking about the MRI and the ankle.’ I remember going like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it. I was in complete shock.”
Correa was ready for his press conference that next morning, and in his mind, his contract with San Francisco was a done deal. However, upon hearing the news, time slowed down for the two-time MLB All-Star, who was left stunned and in disbelief.
“I had my suit and everything ready,” Correa shared. “My body has been feeling great. I did a physical before going to free agency last year. I did a physical before signing with the Twins. And I did an exit physical with the Twins. I didn’t think there was going to be a problem. I was 100 percent confident this was going to go through.
“At that moment, everything felt slow. Everything felt like, ‘Is this real? Is this a dream? Is this a joke?’ But it was real. From then on, we had to deal with a lot of things.”
In explaining to Correa their hesitation, the Giants made clear their concern was long-term, which the 28-year-old couldn’t wrap his head around.
“The conversations were about the future,” Correa explained. “We were talking about a 13-year deal. What they were saying is that in the future it might not hold up. Which I couldn’t understand. That was the toughest part for me.
“I never missed a game because of my ankle. You look at my complete medical record in the big leagues, there is zero treatment on my ankle. And it has never hurt. I couldn’t understand how they were predicting the future, saying 8-10 years down the line something might happen to it.”
San Francisco Giants
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Unfortunately for Correa, his rollercoaster offseason continued. Immediately after hearing of the Giants’ concerns, Boras got to work negotiating a new contract with the Mets. Unfortunately, after agreeing to a deal with New York, the Mets raised similar concerns as the Giants. As a result, Correa’s camp and the team worked for weeks in an attempt to come to a reworked agreement, ultimately for Minnesota to swoop in and become the third and final team to have an agreement with Correa this offseason.
It took Correa 29 days to officially find a home after agreeing to a contract with the Giants. But, as frustrating, confusing and unforeseen as this offseason was for the shortstop, he finally will be able to call the Twin Cities home.