Star Shortstop Reflects on Almost Signing With Giants

With the Minnesota Twins in town, it brings back memories of a failed contract for the Giants.

Jul 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) throws to first base after tagging San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (26) for a double play during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

After the 2022 season, the San Francisco Giants were looking to upgrade the roster. They had their eyes set on one player, like most teams did: Aaron Judge. That didn't go the way the team wanted, and the entire baseball community remembers the "Arson Judge" incident. When they lost out on Judge, they turned their sights to another superstar in Carlos Correa.

After missing out on players like Bryce Harper, Jon Lester and Judge in free agency, it seemed like they finally got their guy. The two sides agreed to a 13 year, $350 million deal to make Correa the shortstop of the future. It was all ready to go, the deal was agreed to, a press conference was set up, but then the medicals got in the way.

There were issues with his ankle that the Giants were concerned about, which caused Correa to leave the deal on the table and agree to one with the New York Mets. That didn't work out due to the physical as well, and the shortstop ended up back with the Minnesota Twins. In all, he signed for about $150 million less than he would've with the Giants. On Friday, he and the Twins arrived to Oracle Park and Correa reflected on the situation.

"It was a press conference away. It was obviously an emotional night for the family. I remember (agent Scott Boras) calling me into the room. When I first signed the deal here in Minnesota, he called me and was like 'It's done.' Super simple," the shortstop said.

Correa had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple this time around.

"This time he said, 'come to the room, we need to talk.' At that point I knew something had to be wrong and then he gave me the news and the ordeal happened," said the 29-year-old.

It wouldn't be the last of the offseason for Correa, but after signing such a huge deal with the press conference scheduled, it had to be a bit of a shock. In the end, he wound up back in Minnesota, and the three time All-Star seems happy with it.

"Whatever happened that year happened. After that, I moved on and I'm very happy where I'm at right now," he said."

His arrival at Oracle Park does provide a lot of 'what ifs' for the Giants and where they would be if they had stuck with the Correa deal. The Giants are in a bit of a limbo at shortstop, with the recent DFA of Nick Ahmed and rotating between Brett Wisely and Tyler Fitzgerald. Most importantly, Correa would have been the team's 'face of the franchise' player they haven't had since Buster Posey retired.