Carlos Correa’s free agency saga has been perhaps the most intriguing storyline of MLB’s offseason. If and when his situation with the Mets finally reaches a resolution, it appears his official agreement will look quite different than the 12-year, $315 million deal that was originally reported.
Speaking on The Athletic Baseball Show, MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal said that he expects Correa’s eventual deal with the Mets to be “dramatically different” than those terms, noting that while the Mets have leverage to significantly decrease the value of the deal, they will also weigh Correa’s ultimate happiness and excitement about joining the team.
“We expect it to be a dramatically different deal,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not gonna be 12 years, $315 [million] guaranteed. The question, again, is: To what extent does the language change, does the deal change? And how is Carlos Correa gonna be once he gets through all this? Will he be a happy Met? Will he be upset? Who knows.”
Before his agreement with the Mets, Correa had reportedly come to terms with the Giants on a 13-year, $350 million contract. Both deals were undone after Correa underwent his physical, causing concern for each club.
Rosenthal mentioned that, while Mets owner Steve Cohen could “go all the way with the hammer” and bring down the total value of the deal, he does not expect New York to do so.
“One thing I said earlier about the leverage: Yes, the Mets have all the leverage,” Rosenthal said. “But they also want a happy player. And you don’t want to start off a relationship—especially a longterm relationship with a player—with a certain degree of contentiousness. You want that player to be comfortable with the deal he’s gotten and not feel like he has gotten shafted, in some respect.”
