Report: SF Giants postpone Carlos Correa press conference over medical concern

The SF Giants have reportedly put signing star shortstop Carlos Correa's 13-year, $350 million contract on hold, at least for the moment, following his physical.

The SF Giants tumultuous offseason is only getting wilder. While it seemed like the Giants had found the next face of the franchise by agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million contract with star shortstop Carlos Correa, things are up in the air at the moment. The Giants postponed Correa's introductory press conference on Tuesday due to medical concerns, according to a report by Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. Correa was ranked the third-best player in Giants Baseball Insider's free-agent rankings.

Will the SF Giants deal with Carlos Correa fall through? / Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

"One person confirmed that Tuesday’s conference to welcome Correa was put on hold because the sides were awaiting the results of testing," Blum wrote. "A second person said that a medical issue was flagged during Correa’s physical."

Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle tweeted a report that the source of the team's concern is not tied to his back, which is generally considered the most alarming possible injury for hitters.

I’m told that whatever was or not flagged during his physical, Carlos Correa does *not* have a back issue.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 20, 2022

The Giants were considered the front-runners to sign Correa after losing the Aaron Judge sweepstakes at the Winter Meetings. However, after seeing the front office fall short in the pursuit of several top free agents this offseason, fans were rightfully nervous that Correa would spurn the Giants for another team. Instead, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made a record-setting offer to come to an agreement.

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.

Correa's contract would easily be the largest (and longest) in franchise history. Still, the length of his contract serves mostly to lower the average annual value of the deal, which benefits the Giants from a business and luxury tax perspective. Assuming the deal is not structured unusually, Correa was set to make roughly $26.6 million per season.

Now, though, all of this is up in the air. Correa's agent Scott Boras has generally refused to renegotiate deals when teams have claimed to find medical issues in the past. Moreover, Boras knows the Giants lack fallback options if Correa signs elsewhere. Dansby Swanson and Carlos Rodón seemed to be the front office's original backup plan if they missed out on Correa. However, both have signed with other teams.

The Giants remain the favorites to sign Carlos Correa. Previous reports suggested they were the only team to offer him a contract worth at least $300 million. However, if the deal falls through, and Correa signs elsewhere, it will transform the 2022-23 offseason into one of the worst in SF Giants franchise history.