The Carlos Correa saga took another — perhaps final — turn Tuesday with the news that he’d agreed to a six-year, $200 million deal with the Minnesota Twins.
That’s far less than the reported 12 years and $315 million the New York Mets had agreed (in principle) to when his 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants fell through.
To that end, the prodigal son has returned. Well, kind of.
He still has to pass that pesky physical, though it appears the Twins are far more likely to pass him through the express lane for a deal that’ll be at least six years — and up to 10 — than the Giants and Mets, respectively, were.
The deal could end up worth $270 million — in the vicinity of the team’s final offer in the first place — over a decade if Correa either meets specific plate appearance benchmarks or the team simply exercises their options at the end of the deal.
In the end, the Twins will pay roughly $50 million per year to secure the services of Correa and Byron Buxton — either of whom could pop off for an MVP-level campaign without the national media so much as lifting an eyebrow.
But all this means is that an offseason that was entirely in shambles is now back on the tracks, but still incomplete.
And it only makes sense for the Twins to keep pushing — previous payroll thresholds be damned — to add more talent, as there’s little reason to add Correa and not further supplement beyond adding a solid catcher (Christian Vazquez) and a big-time power hitter with massive contact issues (Joey Gallo).
So what’s next? I’m glad you asked.
Let’s talk to it:
Add another starter via trade
I’m higher on the team’s rotation than most, but a quintet of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Tyler Mahle, Kenta Maeda and Bailey Ober might not strike fear in the hearts of opposing batters — or the rest of the division for that matter.
Now that’s just the projected rotation on Roster Resource. Maeda is coming back from Tommy John surgery and might not even be a starter anymore. Ober hasn’t thrown 100 innings in any season since 2014 when he was a freshman at the College of Charleston.
There’s ample depth in the form of Josh Winder, Simeon Woods Richardson, Louie Varland and even Cole Sands or Jordan Balazovic, but none of those players can be counted on to be an asset as early as next season.
The rotation is in OK shape, but still needs a bit more oomph — especially since each of the five has missed at least some time over the last year.
Free agency isn’t all that promising unless you’re really high on someone like Mike Minor, Michael Wacha, Chad Kuhl, Danny Duffy, Zack Greinke or anyone of that level.
So to the trade market we go.
The elephant in the room is that the Twins — if this Correa deal pans out — are flush with infielders with defending AL batting champ Luis Arraez possibly an odd man out.
It’s not that he’s that far down the pecking list; it’s more than he’s essentially positionless and would hold a lot of value to a team like the Miami Marlins, who are flush with young pitching and in desperate need of offense after striking out in free agency.
The fits here would be Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, Pablo Lopez or maybe even Trevor Rogers. Yeah, that’s right — the Marlins have basically an entire rotation of guys they could move behind Sandy Alcantara, the defending Cy Young winner.
Another option would be to see who Max Kepler could bring back in a trade — this might happen regardless of if it’s for a starter or someone else — but one of these five guys would be more of a needle-mover than what I suspect the German right fielder would bring back in a trade.
And it’s not that I’m opposed to adding someone like Wacha — of whom recent interest was reported, in fact — but right now depth is secondary to fortifying the top of a rotation with some quality that has some health question marks.
Other starters who would fit this bill for me are German Marquez (of whom the Rockies are weirdly attached, and the peripherals aren’t there but he throws the hell out of the ball), Zac Gallen (not terribly likely to be available), Blake Snell (hard to read San Diego), Jon Gray (Texas is probably not subtracting yet), Merrill Kelly (not that exciting to the masses), Jeffrey Springs (entirely unknown and who knows what Tampa Bay will do) or maybe someone like Patrick Sandoval (not likely since the Angels need to add pitching rather than subtract).
In other words, it’s probably gotta be the Marlins.
Add a right-handed hitter
I’m not picky here. I think they should sign someone who can handle the outfield like Andrew McCutchen or Trey Mancini, or someone who is more of a first-base type like Luke Voit.
You could even sell me on a reunion with Nelson Cruz on a super-cheap deal. Another reunion that could work is switch-hitter Robbie Grossman, who is an OBP merchant coming off a rough season split between the Tigers and Braves (82 wRC+).
Others like Adam Duvall, Brian Anderson (also plays infield as a bonus), Chad Pinder (see Anderson) or even Tommy Pham might make sense.
The get here, however, would be Jurickson Profar, who can play all over and posted a 122 wRC+ last season for the Padres before declining an $8-plus million option — a decision he might like back.
Profar, like Grossman, is a switch-hitter, but ultimately this exercise is to make the offense a little less left-handed. Bringing Correa back helps. So too does the continued maturation of Miranda. But the Twins will still be cycling in lefties like Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner and subtracted righty Gio Urshela this offseason.
This isn’t the most pressing need, but at the end of the year could be one the team looks back on as “glad they addressed.”
Add another reliever (or even two)
It seems unlikely that any remaining reliever can steadfastly hold out on a multi-year deal — though Luke Jackson did just land one with the Giants, so anything’s possible — and that’s the sweet spot for Derek Falvey and Thad Levine.
The Twins’ bullpen, as constructed, should actually be fairly decent. Jorge Lopez, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Caleb Thielbar is a pretty strong quartet at the back end of games. Jorge Alcala has shown some promise in the past. Trevor Megill was an interesting find in 2022. Emilio Pagan has been horrible but still throws the ever-loving shit out of the baseball, so who knows?
But in my estimation, it would be pretty easy to justify two additions here at reasonable costs for what will amount to pretty good relievers.
Who do you like? Brad Hand? Archie Bradley? Michael Fulmer? Chad Green? Alex Reyes? Matt Wisler again? Zack Britton? Will Smith? Daniel Norris? Matt Moore? Andrew Chafin? There’s plenty of quality here for a team that wouldn’t be looking for anything more than Nos. 4-5 — at best — on the pecking list.
The Twins are in a good spot to contend for the division as-is, but this is still an unfinished product. There’s plenty of room for the Twins to easily improve this team to give it the best possible shot of winning the Central — and beyond.