SF Giants hold up contract with Carlos Correa and he signs with Mets

The SF Giants looked like they had found the next face of the franchise in Carlos Correa. Instead, he will be a member of the New York Mets.

Sigh. The SF Giants were unable to complete the contract they agreed to with star shortstop Carlos Correa because of a concern they raised during his physical. Doctors disagreed, per a report by Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle, but the deal fell through and Correa inked a 12-year, $315 million contract with the New York Mets instead.

It turns out Carlos Correa will not be playing with the SF Giants next season / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

"Correa to the Mets now after Giants flagged something in the physical and doctors disagreed," Slusser tweeted.

Confirming: Correa to the Mets now after Giants flagged something in the physical and doctors disagreed.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 21, 2022

The Giants had agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract with Correa, who was ranked the third-best player in Giants Baseball Insider's free-agent rankings. However, his introductory press conference was abruptly "postponed" on Tuesday without the team giving an explanation.

The Giants were considered the front-runners to sign Correa after losing the Aaron Judge sweepstakes at the Winter Meetings. Fans were rightfully nervous that Correa would spurn the Giants for another team, but it seemed that the front office had got the deal done. The fact that it fell apart in this fashion only gives the fanbase more reason to be frustrated.

Here's a snippet of what our own JD Salazar wrote about Correa in their free-agent breakdown of the star shortstop:

The thing that jumps out the most is that Correa crushes the ball. He’s routinely in the top 5% of the league in max exit velocity, and his Statcast page is filled with a LOT of red (unlike tax sheets and grade school papers, this is a good thing) in categories like expected slugging and barrel percentage. That’s a must for any free-agent hitter coming to Oracle Park, even if the Giants have done their best to shed its perception as a pitcher’s ballpark in the last couple of years.

Correa’s also been a great defender over his career. From 2018 through 2021, Correa ranked in the top 3% of defenders according to Outs Above Average. For a team whose defensive deficiencies wreaked so much havoc on their playoff hopes, bringing in a plus defender on the infield is pretty much essential for the type of contract Correa’s looking for. He’s also younger than Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson, which makes the back end of his contract a little easier to swallow.

Instead of Carlos Correa starring for the SF Giants in 2023 and beyond, he will join a star-studded roster with the Mets. And where does that leave the Giants? Well... no one wants to think about that right now.