How to Lose 2 Free Agents in 14 Days

The Giants thought they had signed Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa this offseason, only to be spurned by the financial giants in New York.

News broke early Wednesday that Giant-to-be Carlos Correa would not, in fact, become a Giant. It had been scarcely a week since the shortstop agreed to a 13-year, $350-million contract with San Francisco—and, well, not anymore. Correa’s introductory press conference with the team had been scheduled for Tuesday, but it was called off just a few hours before it was set to begin (reportedly due to a concern raised during his physical). The whole deal was scuttled in the middle of the night. Instead, Correa will join the Mets, signing with New York for 12 years and $315 million.

In less than 24 hours, Correa went from sure Giant to potentially worrying question mark to a Met.

In related news, here are the most frustrating ways to lose out on a free agent, ranked:

6. You make a token offer that you know will be rejected.

5. You make what you think is a pretty decent offer, until you see a news report confirming that, wow, the market is valuing this guy way higher than you thought.

4. You make what could have been a great offer, had it not been a little too late.

3. You think you’re making great progress. This seems achievable! Yes, competition is steep, and he’s the best player on the market, but you were his childhood team. The conversations are going well. The money is there. This would represent a homecoming of sorts for him and a declaration of purpose for you, and it seems like it might really happen. But then you see a tweet. It’s from one of the industry’s big newsbreakers, yet he’s reporting news that can’t be true. He’s saying your deal with the player is all but done. You make some frantic calls. No, no, it’s not true, you hear, but all is fine. The negotiations are still ongoing. Not to worry; it was just a tweet, a broken rumor. You begin to refocus your efforts. But. But.

There was a typo in the tweet.

It is an understandable one—just one letter off—but the result is stupidly funny. It is hilarious in the way only something very dumb can be in the middle of something very serious. There are just as many people riffing on the typo as there are riffing on the actual reporting. You are stressed near the point of breaking, but even you can admit this is pretty, pretty funny.

Anyway—you lose. He chooses to re-sign with his old club. People soon forget about the rumor that he could have gone to you, but the typo haunts you everywhere, an ember of memory that never stops burning.

The Yankees named Judge captain on Wednesday, the 16th in franchise history and the first since Derek Jeter’s retirement in 2014 :: Jessica Alcheh/USA TODAY Sports

2. You … win! You have your guy. The deal is massive, hundreds of millions over more than a decade, but you got him. The I’s are dotted, the T’s crossed. There are no opt-outs, a full no-trade clause, all that jazz. The only thing left is the physical, but, come on: The guy just switched teams last season and has been a big-league fixture for years. There won’t be any surprises there. So you celebrate. Fans rejoice. Your graphics team puts together a fetching image of him in his new uniform, festooned with holiday lights, to encourage people to buy tickets. An introductory press conference is scheduled. You keep adding to your roster—you have to bolster your rotation—but you allow yourself to start daydreaming of next season. This is all you could want.

Except. Except someone has an issue with the medicals, and now there are new conversations to have that no one wants to have, and soon the news conference has to be postponed. You work very hard to make sure no important details get leaked in the hours that follow. There are questions about the commitment, about the history, about going through with it all. This might be salvaged, until suddenly it becomes clear that it simply cannot be. Just after the clock strikes midnight on the West Coast, news breaks that he will instead be going elsewhere, joining the richest owner in baseball to make the most expensive payroll in the history of the game even more expensive.

The graphic of him in your uniform lives on: holiday lights around his neck, a celebration turned into something bleak, a Ghost of Christmas That Never Was.

1. Yes, I know, I know—what could be worse than the last one? But imagine if a team had No. 2 and No. 3 happen to them in the same month! On two different marquee free agents in a critical offseason for them! When all other reasonable options are already off the market! Goodness. Just imagine.

Oh, wait ...