Trade Carlos Correa? The Twins are listening
With ownership shopping the team and payroll set at the roughly $130 million they spent last season, the Twins weren’t likely to make any kind of big free-agent splash at this week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas, let alone reel in a fish like outfielder Juan Soto.
This is a 2023 photo of shortstop Carlos Correa of the Twins baseball team. This image reflects the Twins active roster as of Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, in Fort Myers, Fla., when this image was taken. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
But Soto’s eye-popping deal he reached Sunday with the New York Mets — $765 million over 15 years — has nonetheless played a role in Minnesota’s efforts to improve a roster that was in playoff position for a good portion of last season before a late swoon knocked the Twins out of contention.
The Twins are looking to add a solid right-handed bat, ideally at first base or in the outfield, through free agency, but with money tight — they didn’t gain a windfall from departing free agents such as Carlos Santana, Max Kepler and Manuel Margot — their best bet for meaningful additions might be the trade market.
Derek Falvey, the Twins’ personnel chief and newly promoted team president, has been taking calls, which he said naturally picked up Monday when the free agent market loosened in the wake of Soto’s decision to sign with the Mets.
And the Twins are listening.
“In light of the team sale situation, some of the dynamics around our roster or otherwise, I think there are enough teams checking in,” Falvey said Monday afternoon. “What we tell every team is, ‘Listen, we’re open to being creative.’ ”
Does that mean Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll leave Dallas on Thursday with new players for 2025? Not necessarily. But teams are at least laying the groundwork for potential deals, and one name that comes up often, Falvey acknowledged, is Carlos Correa.
It’s an intriguing proposition.
“We can’t rule anything out before we hear it, no matter who the player is,” Falvey said. “We’ll just be respectful of their process, what they are going through and try to kick some creative ideas around. That’s what led us to a Pablo (Lopez) trade. … So we have to stay open-minded to those things.”
Correa has four years left on a six-year, $200 million contract he signed prior to the 2023 season. That’s roughly $133 million in dedicated payroll the Twins could pare down, perhaps substantially, in a trade.
Correa, 30, was an all-star for the third time this season but dropped out of the game because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot that ultimately cost him 76 games, though Falvey said his progress is “tracking really well.” In his previous two seasons with the Twins, the shortstop never played more than 136 games.
On the other hand, Correa has been terrific when he plays, and Falvey wants to win now. Before last season, the Twins had won consecutive AL Central titles, and in 2023 snapped an MLB-record, 18-game postseason losing skid while advancing to the divisional round.
The Twins have a surfeit of young infielders with players such as Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien, but Correa is better than all of them at short.
“Ultimately, he didn’t play as many games as we would have liked because he was dealing with the plantar fasciitis. That was unfortunate.” Falvey said. “But when he played, he was really good for us. He’s a leader. He’s a key member of the clubhouse.
“Obviously, you expect teams to call on players like that, especially with where we are and some of the conversations we’re having with other clubs. But we want to win, so a high bar is set.”
More likely would be Falvey and Zoll spending one of those young infielders, and perhaps a young starter such as Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa or Zebby Matthews, to fetch a more veteran player who can help the team get better in 2025.
The Twins’ strength right now is their prospects, and because of injuries the past few seasons, a lot of them already have major league experience.
“We’re having a lot of dialogue around that at this stage,” Falvey said. “That’s probably our primary focus while we’re here, just making sure we’re connecting with teams about if their needs are shifting, based on different free agent dynamics that have either occurred or feel like they’re about to occur with different players. What does that do to change team needs or plans? That’ll be our focus over the next couple of days here.”
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