FORT MYERS, Fla. — After a record $865 million in agreed-upon contracts a winter ago (including $665M in deals canceled due to a decade-old ankle injury) and a 2023 season when plantar fasciitis in the other foot diminished his extraordinary talent but didn’t prevent a fun playoff run to start his $200M Twins contract, superstar shortstop Carlos Correa has no hard feelings.
Never had, never will, he said.
“I’m a simple guy. I’m a chill guy,” Correa told The Post on Saturday. “I don’t hold grudges. It’s just the nature of the sport. It’s the nature of business. You have to move on. You can’t let that consume you.
“I’ve got two kids now, and I’ve got to set a good example. I’m very happy with the life that God has given me so far, and where he’s put me.”
Correa doesn’t think about the original canceled $350M, 13-year Giants deal, or the ensuing canceled $315M, 12-year, middle-of-the-night Mets deal that was intended to solve two obvious Amazin’ issues (third base and lineup protection for Pete Alonso). Correa doesn’t consider what might have been.
“If you know me, you know I trust in God … [and] focus on things I can control. That’s how I handled the whole situation,” Correa said. “At some point, it got out of my control and the numbers I put up and all my accomplishments didn’t matter. It was just about that one injury that I had in 2014 that hadn’t bothered me ever since.”
The shock of the financial loss for him was nothing more than a footnote — no pun intended. At the time, he admitted he was surprised. But he now views it as a blessing.
“It will probably never happen in baseball again,” Correa said of the two-thirds of a billion dollars in scuttled contracts. “But at the same time, that led me here, and I’m very happy with that. Now, looking back on it … 13-, 12-year deals, that wouldn’t have been great for me and my family. This is a better situation for what I want in the future, and how much I want to be present in my kids’ life.”
Correa was originally believed enamored of the big city and big stage — his postseason exploits are near legendary (18 October homers) — and he said he still loves his trips to Yankee Stadium. But he was encouraged about the October excitement the Twins triggered last year.
“From what I saw from the fans in Minnesota in the postseason, we can try to bring baseball back to Minnesota like it was when Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and [Harmon] Killebrew were playing,” Correa said. “I’m excited for that.”
Correa once also relished the potential switch to third base.
From his WBC days, he said he found it “way easier” and believed the lack of wear might give him more power, and perhaps even more staying power. But once it became clear how concerned the Mets were, he “put it in God’s hands” and also instructed agent Scott Boras to re-engage with the Twins, where he’d played in 2022 on a “pillow” contract that’s becoming more popular.
He would have been happy whatever the outcome, he said.
“The outcome was Minnesota, and I couldn’t be happier with that,” Correa said. “It’s a group of guys I already knew and a city that already embraced me as one of their own. Minnesota has been great to me and my family. We love it there, we love the lakes.”
He’s also liking the team that earned its third division title in five years, and broke its unlikely streak of 18 playoff defeats (to be fair or perhaps unfair, 13 of those losses came against the Yankees, who have their number) and moved into the second round. The team is loaded with talent, if only.
Every team sets its top spring goal as staying healthy, but here they mean it. Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are all No. 1- or 2-overall picks, and though Correa has been easily the most fortunate of the three, all three have suffered greatly from injuries and IL stays.
Correa was curtailed by foot pain in 2023, Lewis has had two reconstructive knee surgeries, and injuries have derailed Buxton to the point that he’s missed as many games as he’s played. Buxton told me he needs to do something different. So he said he’s setting a more realistic goal this year: 140 games instead of 160.
This may be the nicest team in baseball (Minnesota Nice is real here), but it’s undeniably among the unluckiest. At full strength, it could be a terror (in a good way). Catcher Ryan Jeffers (.858 OPS ) is among the game’s most underrated stars, Edouard Julien has batting title potential, and native Minnesotan Matt Wallner was a 2024 revelation.
With the emergence of the aforementioned youth, and their three biggest positional talents, led by Correa, all currently feeling great, Twins baseball president Derek Falvey says they are in a “much better spot.”
As for Correa and how it all turned out, he said he feels he’s in the right spot.
