Carlos Correa’s camp contacting other teams as Mets contract holdup continues: report

The Carlos Correa free agency saga continues without him signing a contract, this time with the New York Mets.

The New York Post reports Correa’s representatives have “renewed contact with at least another interested team or two” other than the Mets.

New York is trying to negotiate new language for his contract, which was agreed upon at $315 million over 12 seasons. 

This delay comes as the Mets found something wrong with Correa’s physical, which is what led to the San Francisco Giants to nix a multi-year deal with the shortstop. 

Correa’s camp reportedly hadn’t had much contact with the Mets until Thursday, when things picked up. The Mets are optimistic a deal ends up getting done. 

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The Minnesota Twins, who Correa played for last season, are reportedly one of the teams agent Scott Boras has been in contact with. 

“Ultimately, I don’t think Mr. Cohen is going to let him go,” a source told the Post. 

Mets owner Steve Cohen has been adamant about getting the best talent on the free agent market, which has made his roster arguably the best on paper for next season. The Mets’ biggest additions were to the pitching staff after losing Jacob deGrom to the Texas Rangers. 

Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana and Japanese star Kodai Senga were all added to the Mets’ pitching staff, and they also re-signed All-Star closer Edwin Diaz to a long-term deal. Offensively, Brandon Nimmo was re-signed and Omar Narvaez is the presumptive starting catcher heading into training camp.

Correa, though, would be another game-changing addition to the Mets, who won 101 games last season before falling to the San Diego Padres in the wild-card round. 

The issue for the former Houston Astro is his right ankle, which was surgically repaired in 2014 and was the Giants’ cause for concern before Correa jumped ship and agreed to terms with the Mets. 

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Correa reportedly doesn’t want to renegotiate the financial terms of the deal, but the Mets feel they need to alter some terms due to a risk they see in the player. 

It’s also more a long-term issue than a short-term one. Correa hasn’t had any problems with his ankle since it was repaired. However, an 11-year deal takes the shortstop into age 40. 

Either way, both sides appear committed to getting this contract completed. Correa reportedly jumped on Boras in a San Francisco hotel room when he learned the Mets offered him his lucrative deal. The Mets also covet Correa’s two-way ability as a slick defender who brings gap-to-gap power at the plate. 

In his eight seasons in MLB, Correa owns a .279 batting average with 155 homers and 553 RBI. He won a World Series with Houston in 2017, though that title is tainted by the Astros’ cheating scandal.