After Carlos Correa tested the free agent market (and coming to terms with SF and the Mets), he re-upped with the smaller market, Twins for 6 years and $200 million. Suffice to say, he can make close to the difference he lost by not signing with either NL club, if he remains healthy and meets other requirements.

No matter how either team tries to con their fans and the rest of us, the Mets and Giants put all of their eggs in the Correa basket. Both teams got an initial boost when they (thought) they signed him. And unless he’s a complete bust, he would have greatly improved either team. Forget WAR (wins above replacement) he is much better than either alternative on the rosters in 2021. While there is no guarantee that he’ll replicate his 2022 performance with the Twins, this year-he’s already proven that he doesn’t suffer from signing the big deal.

Unlike the other four shortstops that signed lucrative free agent contracts the past two years, Correa flourished relatively speaking. However, I’ll argue his individual success didn’t have the overall impact we all expected. He signed a 3-year, $105M deal with an opt-out. He played in 136 games and hit 22 homers with 64 RBI. More importantly, his .291/.366/.467 slash wasn’t too far off his career slash of .279/.357/.479.

Three other shortstops joined him in the free agent market last offseason. Each was coming off a productive walk-year and while Javier Baez was famously traded by the Cubs during the 2021 season, he was a free agent last offseason. None of them were able to match the successes of their 2021 season. Not everyone shows up to work after cashing the first paycheck and succeeds immediately. One can draw their ownn conclusions.

Baez got 53 fewer at-bats with the Cubs and Mets in 2021, but still managed 31 homers and 87 RBI compared to 17-67 for the Tigers in 2022. Likewise, he slashed .265/.319/.494 in ’21 v. .238/.278/.393 in ’22 for the unhappy Detroit faithful.

The extremely durable, Marcus Semien had a career year for the Bue Jays in 2021. 45HR-102RBI and slashed .269/.334/.538. He played second for the Rangers in 2022 to accommodate his new, free agent teammate Corey Seager, and fell short of expectations. He hit 26HR-83RBI and slashed .248/.304/.429. and Texas missed out on the postseason again.

Initially it sounded like an abundance of riches and outsiders wondered how the Rangers would handle two very good shortstops on the same roster. Even though Seager hit a career high 33 homers for the Rangers in 2022, his other numbers fell short of his career numbers-he didn’t quite measure up to the back of his baseball card. His career slash of .287/.357/.494 is better than his 2022 slash of .245/.317/.455- which is better than the other free agents.

Current Mets shortstop, Francisco Lindor signed an incredible contract with New York after the 2020 season, and famously flamed out in his first season with the Mets. He rebounded nicely last season and his presence at short initially meant that Correa would move to third base for the Mets

Before the Twins resigned Correa, they did nothing to improve their roster save for acquiring infielder Kyle Farmer, who just hit .255 with 14 HR and 78 RBI. Thus, Correa’s return is the biggest highlight of the offseason. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Correa’s presence and success doesn’t equate team success.

Accepting that his 2022 numbers (22hr/64RBI, .291/.366/.467 slash) were pretty dang good, they didn’t do much in the way of giving the Twins the expected boost. In 2021, Minnesota finished in 5th place in the AL Central with a 73-89 record. His great 2022 season only resulted in 5 more wins (78-84) and a 3rd place finish in the pathetic AL Central.

Unless they get better starting pitching and more pop from the rest of the lineup, Correa is going to have to have a career season for the Twins to have to win the division.

We’ll have to wait and see who got the best of the Correa deal, the Twins, Giants or the Mets. The twists and turns certainly made for an interesting 3 weeks of the offoffseason.