The Twins are facing tight payroll restrictions this offseason as they look to improve after narrowly missing the playoffs thanks to a brutal collapse back in September. With the club’s budget for 2025 reportedly set at $130MM and a payroll that RosterResource currently projects at $142MM, it’s hardly a secret that the club figures to make trades that will shed payroll this winter. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, that’s led some clubs to inquire with the Twins about the availability of star shortstop Carlos Correa. While Nightengale goes on to emphasize that there’s been no indication those inquiries have become more serious than a preliminary phone call, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey nonetheless addressed the possibility of a Correa trade during Day 1 of the Winter Meetings on Monday.
“Obviously, you expect teams to call on players like that, especially with where we are and some of the conversations we’re having with other clubs,” Falvey said of Correa, as relayed by Nightengale. “But we want to win, so a high bar is set.”
That’s a notable change in tone from last month, when Falvey emphasized that a Correa trade wasn’t something the club was “focused on” and called Correa a “key” part of the club’s plans alongside Byron Buxton and Pablo Lopez. Even so, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported Monday that multiple sources with the Twins indicated that it’s “hard to envision” the club parting with Correa. Given that apparent reluctance to deal their star shortstop and the apparently extremely preliminary nature of inquiries into his availability, it still seems more likely than not that Correa will remain in a Twins uniform for Opening Day 2025.
With that being said, the idea of a Correa trade is certainly intriguing. Correa’s recent history has been extremely tumultuous. After signing with Minnesota on a short-term deal during the 2021-22 offseason, Correa re-entered free agency the following year after a strong platform season and reached agreements with both the Giants and Mets before those deals ultimately fell through due to medical concerns. That led Correa to re-up with the Twins on his current deal, which calls for him to earn $128MM over the next four seasons before a series of four team options that Correa can vest into guaranteed years by reaching certain plate appearance thresholds or earning a top-5 MVP finish, a Silver Slugger award, or an LCS/World Series MVP award in the season prior to the option.
Correa’s complex contract also comes with a full no-trade clause, meaning that he would have to approve of any deal that shipped him out of Minnesota. Further complicating any trade talks involving Correa is his up-and-down performance since re-signing in the Twin Cities; the shortstop’s 2023 season saw him post just 1.8 fWAR and a 95 wRC+ in a full workload of 135 games as he played through plantar fasciitis. His performance bounced back to its previous impressive level in 2024 as he hit .310/.388/.517 with a 155 wRC+, but plantar fasciitis once again hobbled him and limited the shortstop to just 86 games. Overall, the 30-year-old has hit .261/.341/.444 (119 wRC+) in 221 games over the past two seasons.
Given Correa’s tantalizing value when healthy, it’s easy to imagine at least some high-revenue clubs being willing to gamble on his contract. That’s clearly not going to be enough to get a deal done, however, as Falvey has made clear that he isn’t interested in merely dealing Correa for the sake of salary relief. Even if Correa were willing to waive his no-trade clause to depart Minnesota, it’s unclear if interested clubs would be willing to part ways with the sort of package that would entice Falvey to make a deal in order to land him. While the club has 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee as an option potentially capable of taking over shortstop in the event that Correa is traded, he struggled to a .221/.265/.320 slash line in his first taste of big league action and may not be ready for an everyday job to start the 2025 season.
With the apparent unlikelihood of a Correa deal coming together in mind, it still seems as though the Twins will have to shed salary somewhere. To that end, Nightengale highlights utility man Willi Castro, right-hander Chris Paddack, and catcher Christian Vazquez as “obvious trade candidates,” though he suggests that none of the three would bring back much of significance in return beyond salary relief. It’s not the first time that trio has come up as potential trade candidates this winter, but if the Twins managed to clear all three of them off the books entirely that would free up a combined estimate of $23.7MM using the $6.2MM projection of Castro’s final trip through arbitration offered by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
If Minnesota were able to free up all of that money, they’d seemingly have around $10.5MM to invest in other areas of the roster. To that end, Nightengale notes that Falvey described adding a first baseman “has some appeal” with Carlos Santana having elected free agency last month, and that a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach could also make plenty of sense for a club that lost Manuel Margot to free agency in November as well. Ramon Laureano, Mark Canha, and Austin Hays are among the interesting budget options available on the right-handed outfield market, while Santana is joined by the likes of Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzo, and Paul Goldschmidt in the lower tiers of the first base market this winter.
Sale of the team can’t happen fast enough.
Might as well. Target Field is gonna be empty.
Oakland A’s 2.0! Horrible owners!
mnnorthernjuice;
They sure are.
The guy in the family that was acting as the owner when he stepped in and signed Correa to that contract was delusional. Then Correa “opted out”, only to fail 2 physicals. At which point the 2 teams that had agreed on a contract with him backed out. So then the acting owner of the franchise (not sure if it was the one from the year before or not…LOL) goes back and re-signs the guy to an outrageous contract…..and now the franchise has money problems…..meanwhile the team choked during the stretch run in 2024 when they should easily have qualified for a playoff spot.
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The old man was a problem. His rich kids that fight with each other over who runs the operation are even worse. No doubt the commissioners office is running around trying to find some professional investors that will stabilize the franchise…..
And MLB wants to expand. LOL
That means AA was one of those calls.
Articles like this one are what makes the offseason a joke.
As a fan of the sport I stand back and wait for things to happen.
You do know the name of the site, right?
No you don’t Sam. You read every article and comment every day Rotf
You are here why then?
He missed 2 plus months last year and its a foot issue. Oof. Can’t see any GM willing to take a flyer on him with that contract. Plus he’s an old 30. Been playing pro ball going back to his teenage years.
If he stays injury free for the first half of 2025 (and the Twins r not relevant), maybe an outside chance a contender might try to get him. Can’t see it, though.
@ C Yards Jeff. It was plantar fasciitis. It resolves. Completely.
I’m a big fan of Correa and the Twins, but many times it’s a recurring condition. Hence, he missed significant time over the past 2 seasons with the ailment, not to mention that he tried played through the pain in 2023. Last offseason he is said to have devoted himself to preventing another flare up. I’m certainly no expert on the subject, but I think it’s safe to say it can resolve completely with treatment for the average adult, but is quite different for a professional athlete. Disclaimer: I didn’t even WebMD it, so the above might be as valuable as a fart slipped out of my ass.
@The Usual Suspect; hasn’t he had it two years in a row?
It does?
Enjoy writing him seven figure monthly checks while he can’t play because his feet hurt.
Samuel, we’re here for the entertainment. Most of these writers don’t have a clue of what’s going on. They are running with rumors, or maybe stories that a FO or an agent would like them to plant.
No, fans of the sport are watching before something happens. It’s the pretenders who read what happened the next day to have something to talk about.
The Pohlads have money. They shouldn’t be penny pinching if they want their club to be enticing enough to purchase.
I’m so fed up with these owners. Someone, please swoop in and buy the team.
They’ve gotta have cash flow issues right now. It’s the only thing that makes sense. You don’t make the team worse as you’re trying to find a buyer.
That would be like me trying to sell my house and taking a sledgehammer to the bedroom wall. Sure, it’s easy enough to fix and will cost a smidge of what the house is worth but it sure makes the house less desirable.
Actually it’s the complete opposite. Teams try to reduce payroll and big contracts to make the sale look more attractive. Most sports owners aren’t looking to build dynasties. They are looking to make as much profit as possible.
Can’t justify taking on big contracts when the team didn’t even make the playoffs.
The reason the Pohlad family has money is that they have ALWAYS been penny pinchers and through owning: bus lines, banks, bottling plants and ball clubs have always been able to make a tidy profit off of the people who are customers of those businesses.
I don’t follow the Twins or Correa all that closely, but as a fan of the small market Rays, I find this situation interesting. The Rays can field a team filled with 1.5 – 2.0 fWAR players all day long, but getting over the hump to winning rings requires stars. Correa put up 4.3 fWAR in just 86 games last year. That translates to about 8 fWAR over the course of a full season. So he’s definitely a star when he is on the field, but I guess that is the problem – keeping him on the field healthy (as he apparently played hurt most of 2023). The Twins have a dilemma of whether to trade Correa for salary relief, while knowing full well that they won’t be enticing any other stars to come to their fine city anytime in the future. Thus, their hopes for rings would rest entirely on smart trades and player development, which is harder than it sounds. Such is life for small market teams who can’t buy rings like their big market competition.
This line “while Santana is joined by the likes of Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzo, and Paul Goldschmidt in the lower tiers of the first base market this winter.” reminds that age is eternally undefeated.
Twins should jump at the chance to trade Correa. Too inconsistent and injury prone to devote that much payroll. They are already payroll bloated by Buxton. Getting out of 1 or both of those contracts should be prioritized.
The Buxton contract situation is pretty interesting, he’s essentially on a 4yr/$60 plus 44 million in incentives. Considering Tyler O’Niell just signed a 3/$49.5 and is in the same boat, “good when healthy”, I think there’s a few teams that could take the risk. Maybe moving him to a corner OF part time DH role to reduce risk?
What ever issues that appeared on Correa’s physicals likely fall into the category of “ticking time bomb” if the contract offers went from 13yrs to 12 then 6. He has a remaining 4yrs/$130 mil left and unless the twins are willing to eat money it’s going to be a hard sell.
Agreed its not an easy sell and i doubt the twins get anything more than spare parts. My point with buxton is more about how the twins tied up so much money on players who spend half their tome on the injured list. Buxton has value and the contract comparison with Oneil shows the contract is no longer an outrageous payout. But if you are going run a team with a smaller payroll, its got to be on players who are on the field.
@The_Porcupine
Even if correa is injury prone, he’s one of the best injury prone players you can have.
He had a higher WAR in 83 games last season than willy adames in 161.
I would get rid of Buxton, as he is the worst of the two.
Correa to LAD, let Mookie play right. Problems solved for all.
Hard pass.
After seeing Gary Sanchez get $8.5MM Vazquez is more tradeable than I thought.
Think if they kick in $3MM they’ll be able to dump him off.
They might get real value for him without kicking anything in. He takes the field, calls a good game and has periods of decent hitting and the market has been swept clean of alternatives. If they just sit on him and get others to bid it could be less of a sinkhole than you might expect.
Crazy to me that this is really how the Pohlad’s want to go out.
Prank phone calls!!!!
Lol!!!!
The Pohlad’s policy of using ‘50% or less’ of the previous years gate revenue has always been the family’s way of doing the ‘stop, why are you hitting yourself’ to the team’s fan base.
Teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets & Phillies are using 65-85% of their gate revenues for player payroll.
I’m not in the business of feeling sorry for billionaires. A well run small market team has every opportunity to field a competitive team, every season.
The Twins need a ‘rightsizing’ of all of their priorities, from the backwards economics of concession & merchandise pricing down to what it means to trust the staff that was put in a position to do their jobs they were hired for in the first place (i.e. Dave St. Peter, Thad Levine, Dick Bremer, numerous minor league scouts whose jobs were outright eliminated etc…)
Since Joe Pohlad took over in 2021, the ship has been rocked inside/out. Last year, it finally capsized with the team’s last season collapse.
A new ownership group can’t come soon enough – because if there is one thing I know about Joe Pohlad, is that he definitely is not going to admit when he’s done something wrong.
That’s all well and good for the 1994-2023 era, but in the past couple seasons it is becoming clear that the shared revenue streams we’ve enjoyed are falling apart in many places.
You propose everyone just be happy with a profit of 15% of revenue, but it’s vastly different to say that to the Rays vs the Dodgers when revenues are far apart already and diverging rapidly. If the Pohlads don’t want to want to tie up a huge portion of the family wealth to make such a diminished return then you may be right that it’s time to turn things over. But do not deceive yourself that you’re certain to get anyone as good when the new folks come in.
The Pohlads have spent money in a mid-tier way based on mid-tier income. The demise of Fox Sports North is going to push down on that income regardless of who owns the team and you’ll be hearing even more of this from the next guy. Do not say you weren’t warned.
I have knowledge of at least one potential emerging ownership group, on top of knowledge of how things so dramatically soured with this current iteration. Believe me, it is much worse than what is being publicly reported/written about. Why would you believe me, I’m just some rando on the internet; but being a fly on the wall at a country club has its perks.
You are right about one thing tho, the economics of the MLB are completely disproportionate, and it is up to Manfred to get the players union and the owners to realize that their game is one more bad decade away from being an afterthought/untenable.
Manfred needs to usher in a new TV deal, they need to mandate a salary floor and they need to reconfigure the collective bargaining agreement.
The Pohlads have been in this ring for 30 plus years, and they have no one to blame but themselves for the mess of things Joe has made. He just needed to keep his mouth shut and ‘run the business,’ but he couldn’t even do that.
It’s Hank Steinbrenner all over again, except the Pohlads have no one else to turn.
Selling the team in their only option, and it can’t come soon enough.
All of the large market teams have an established SS. Blue Jays maybe? Move Bo to 2B. Back to Houston to play 3B? I don’t know, not seeing any real fits out there
@ohyeadam: Not sure if you consider Atlanta to be a “large market team” or not, but they definitely don’t have “an established SS.” Not one who’s average or better anyway. Correa seems like a good fit for the Braves if the Twins would eat $20-30M of his contract.
I had not considered them. AA likes to get creative with his trades too. This could work
If I were the RS, I’d at least hear the Twins out on both Correa and Buxton. I know it sounds crazy, but if you have the depth to account for the number of games they miss, then both of these guys can deliver hellacious numbers. 126 games from Correa and 36 games from Hamilton. 90 games from Buxton, and 72 from Anthony.
Minny would have to eat a solid chunk of payroll, but we have the depth to do it,
And even if we don’t, I’d love to see what Buxton could do if he finally played 162 games.
AA was one of the final bidders for Correa when he was seeking a pillow deal. And Buxton is from Baxley, GA that has a certain team good at taking another team’s chicken s*** and making a delicious chicken salad. Let Chef AA cook!
I think he ends up on one of these two teams. They def make the most since. Boston sign a TOR and trade bello for Correa is a win for both teams imo. Sure throw in Buxton too and have twins pay some of that salary
And god I hope he doesn’t end up with the Braves. That lineup will be insane !
Not sure Sox fans would welcome Correa. He gets booed very loudly still when he comes up to bat at Fenway. the Houston guys wouldn’t be welcomed by Sox fans. I live in Minnesota and I’m not comfortable cheering for him.
I venture to say they’ll forget quickly if he comes to Boston. They need another star or two and he fits the bill. Plus he’s cheap in prospect capital to acquire
Everyone would like to see Buxton on the field, but trading him is not going to change the fact that he’s glass. He knows it as well as anyone and has a contract paying him 50% of his value to match his 50% playing time (about $14m per year). He’s also got a no trade that would have to be dealt with, he likes playing with Correa and he likes the Twin Cities. I’m sure he’d love to stay healthy as well, but MN is a place where they understand his state and don’t hassle him about it the way they might in Boston or NY. Moving him could be difficult.
The corner stones of the franchise are Correa and Buxton….really? To over priced part timers that can’t stay healthy. You may as well add them to the coaching staff and let them sit in the dugout and find two guys that can actually get on the field. If they were on the bench I bet they’d only get hurt for a quarter of the season.
Kinda points to the lack of long term talent in Minnesota right now.
Pohlad kids need to go. Team now worth a billion and a half and they destroyed it last year and looks like they’ll do it again
.At least St. Peter is out.
Twins fans are grumpy ! Their front office has done an excellent job drafting, trading, and developing talent. And they spend some money too. They are competitive nearly every season. Much better than my reds. Just sayin….
Trade him. Minnesota is basically a glorified minor league team or a player reclamation spot.
The big 6-8 money teams will always win. No point for the small market teams to get excited ever.
The “Twins have received calls regarding Carlos Correa” from me. The call’s transcript:
“Javier Baez for Carlos Correa.”
True story.
Definitely listen to any team willing to talk trade for Correa. As seen in the last two seasons, Plantar Fasciitis can be a chronic condition. Possibly even more so when incurred by a professional athlete.
Keep the phone lines open for calls on: Vasquez, Paddack, Castro.
Don’t overlook the possibility of a three (or more) team trade.
No reason for tight payroll, other than Pohlads are cheap and need to find a buyer! They are letting the team go, when it was really good. Just needed to add a few pieces
Billy Beane, still just 62, remains an “Executive Advisor” for the A’s. Had I known these stingy Pohalds, I would’ve told them to make an offer to double his salary while serving in the same role for MN until the sale is complete in order to “Clean everything up.”
TR became controversial at the end of his tenure as GM(Though he was dealing with cancer, too, recall), but the fact of the matter is that he was genius compared to Falvey and Levine, who combined lost more raw talent via poor 40 man mgmt, AWFUL trades, and terrible contract signings over a decade. The Pohlads and guys like St. Peter should’ve been on their new system within the first two years, minimum, and made the changes.
They are stuck in this mess for at least four more years financially, sadly, barring a true change in ownership.
I’m not a fan of Correa at all. Gary Harris jokingly said Baez for Correa. Why not? Yes no one wants Baez and yes interdivisional trades are unlikely but why not? Baez, Tork, and a bunch of arms and bats from Detroit’s highly rated minor league system. They have lots of pitching: Melton, Hamm, Madden, etc al. Lots of interesting bats: Lee. Jung, Dingler, Briceno, Liranzo. Again I don’t like Correa but if they could offload Baez and get a good SS why not?