Carlos Correa

San Francisco Giants veteran Brandon Crawford is arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history, but the arrival of star free agent Carlos Correa presents a different challenge for the 35-year-old.

The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly reports that Crawford was informed he will be switching positions this offseason and Correa, who signed a 13-year, $350 million deal on Tuesday, will be San Francisco's everyday shortstop.

Per Baggarly, Crawford received a phone call from team president Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler "less than 15 minutes" after news broke of Correa's signing. Prior to that, there were no discussions of the four-time Gold Glove winner switching positions.

Despite his surprise, Crawford seemed to take the news in stride in a text to Baggarly:

"With the signing of a player as good as Carlos, our team definitely got much better. He's been one of the better players in the league for years, and it's obviously exciting to get a player of his caliber to San Francisco. That being said, he is a shortstop and since the signing the other day, I've been told that that's where he'll stay, so that puts me in a much different situation than I've ever been faced with in professional baseball. So, the rest of this off-season, spring training, and during the season, I will be working my hardest to be the best I can be at a different position and help us get back to the postseason."

While Crawford is likely better suited to moving to second or third base to facilitate the addition of Correa, Baggarly wrote that Crawford "declined to address what his role could be or what position would represent the easiest transition, saying he has been given a rough outline but conversations are still in the beginning stages."

Crawford has spent his entire 12-year major league career with the Giants. He's a three-time All-Star and helped lead San Francisco to two World Series titles in 2012 and 2014. His 1,525 games exclusively at shortstop trails only Derek Jeter (2,674), Luis Aparicio (2,581), Ozzie Smith (2,511), Elvis Andrus (1,906) and J.J. Hardy (1,544).

The 2023 season is the final year on Crawford's contract, and Baggarly noted that there's a chance he considers retirement next winter.

The left-handed hitter is coming off a down year in 2022, hitting .231 with nine homers and 52 RBI. He hopes to return to the 2021 form that saw him hit .298 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI to finish fourth in NL MVP voting.

The San Francisco Giants may have wanted Aaron Judge, but Carlos Correa was always the guy they needed.

Bully for them, then, that Correa's the guy they got. As ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report late Tuesday night, the Giants came to terms with the decorated shortstop on a 13-year contract that will pay out $350 million.

Breaking: Carlos Correa agrees to a 13-year, $350M deal with the Giants, per @JeffPassan 💰 @BRWalkoff pic.twitter.com/n9qFIDUUp6

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 14, 2022

In contrast to the opt-out-laden deal that Correa signed with the Minnesota Twins in March, this one's pretty much for life. Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the 28-year-old's pact with the Giants features full no-trade protection and no opt-outs. He's locked in to play in the Bay Area through his age-40 season in 2035.

He'll certainly be well-compensated. The $350 million guarantee puts Correa at the high end of what he was reportedly seeking last winter, not to mention atop the heap among the highest paid shortstops in history.

If reports of their $360 million offer to Judge are accurate, the Giants have nonetheless saved money in pivoting to Correa after the reigning American League MVP returned to the New York Yankees. And that's just one way that that outcome was for the best.

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Aaron Judge Never Made Much Sense for the Giants

To be frank, the Giants' interest in Judge always smacked of corporate types saying, "Let's get this guy because he'll make us money," rather than baseball operations types saying, "Let's get this guy because he'll help us win games."

Joel Sherman of the New York Post indeed suggested as much in November, writing that the Giants' higher-ups craved a star who could draw 'em out like Barry Bonds used to in the early 2000s.

At least on paper, Judge was an ideal solution. A 6'7", 282-pound slugger fresh off hitting an American League-record 62 home runs, and from nearby Linden to boot? That's a draw, all right.

And yet, something a rival executive said to Heyman sums up how awkward of a fit Judge and the Giants were: "He's going to leave the greatest market to go across country to a team where it's hard to hit homers? Come on."

No disrespect to the awesome power in Judge's bat, but Yankee Stadium surely helped amplify his home run output. Oracle Park is not known to do such things, particularly for right-handed sluggers.

Besides, Judge is a guy with a concerning injury history who's pushing 31. Whoever signed him was going to be committing to a win-now window, which would have been an odd thing for the Giants to do on the heels of an 81-81 effort in 2022.

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Carlos Correa Makes Tons of Sense for the Giants

Signing Correa, on the other hand, isn't strictly a win-now move. It's much more one of the win-now-and-later variety.

Unless he's planning on putting on Michael Lorenzen-ian levels of bulk so he can also pursue home run history, Correa's ceiling doesn't go quite as high as Judge's. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a contemporary superstar with a higher floor, as it's not by accident that Correa has averaged 7.2 rWAR per 162 games throughout his eight MLB seasons.

As evidenced by his well-above-average 129 OPS+ and 18 career postseason home runs, the guy can hit no matter the time of year. The guy can also field, for which you can see his 70 defensive runs saved since 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYq_Rf5TFcI

Correa likewise boasts less quantifiable qualities, such as how he carries himself in the clubhouse. It's telling how strong of an impression he made on his fellow Twins despite only being with them for a few months.

"[Correa] studies players; he studies the game," Nick Gordon told Dan Hayes of The Athletic. "It's the type of player you are, the type of player you want to be, things like that. Potential. He can just see. He sees. He's got an eye for the game. It can be anything, baseball, non-baseball, whatever. It really doesn't matter."

This is a guy the Giants can build around, even if it involves shifting Brandon Crawford to third base in the near term and perhaps Correa himself there in the long term. He's young enough that the Giants should still have years before they have to worry about that. And once they do, they'll need not worry about whether his arm will play at the hot corner.

What's more, Correa didn't cost the Giants any draft picks, as he was ineligible for a qualifying offer, and the structure of his contract is surely conducive to team-building. His $26.9 million average annual value is far short of the $40 million per year Judge got.

That's advantageous in many ways, but particularly as it relates to AAV-driven luxury-tax calculations.

The extra flexibility could come in handy in any number of ways, be they unforeseeable or very much seeable. For instance, potential runs at Rafael Devers or Shohei Ohtani on next winter's free-agent market look that much more feasible.

As for whether Correa himself will be good for business, the Giants don't need him to be. They're getting more than $100 million per year just from TV deals, or enough for basically four Correas.

But if he does boost ticket sales, well, it wouldn't be for the first time:

The Twins have sold more than 100,000 single-game, group tickets and Twins Passes since the news of Carlos Correa's signing broke.

— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) March 23, 2022

If this particular brand of history repeats itself, it may not be simply because Giants fans also want to turn out for a guy whose credentials include a Rookie of the Year, two All-Star nods, a Gold Glove and a World Series ring.

Correa figures to be that much more of a draw when the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town, as the very real hate they have for him down there is all the more reason for Giants fans to have his back.

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Are the Giants a Contender Now, Though?

It's all well and good that the Giants have made a sensible long-term gamble on Correa, but the question remains: Does he put them over the hump in the here and now?

If it were just him, no way. But it's not just him, as the Giants had been loading up their offense and pitching even before they agreed to write a $350 million check:

The Giants are all of a sudden having a huge offseason: Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger, Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea. They are still looking for bullpen help, but the heavy lifting is done.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) December 14, 2022

Though the absence of ace left-hander Carlos Rodón—who pitched to a 2.88 ERA over 178 innings for the Giants in 2022—still looms large, that's a good haul that has the Giants looking that much better in relation to National League rivals.

FanGraphs, for example, gives them the eighth-highest WAR projection of any NL team for 2023. Not great but seemingly within the margin of error for a pursuit of the league's three wild-card berths.

This is also assuming that the Giants are done shopping, and they might not be. They have about $26.7 million worth of breathing room between them and the first luxury-tax threshold for 2023. That's plenty to accommodate the club's remaining needs, such as a proper center fielder and a late-inning arm.

To squeeze this long story down into a short one: The Giants look a heck of a lot better than they did at the end of the '22 season. Their new shortstop is but one reason.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

Shortstop Carlos Correa reportedly turned down an offer to return to the Minnesota Twins before signing with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Correa declined to sign a 10-year, $285 million deal with the Twins. Instead, he agreed to a 13-year, $350 million pact with the Giants, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

At $350 million, Correa's contract is the richest ever for a shortstop, surpassing the $341 million deal Francisco Lindor signed with the New York Mets in 2021.

Last year's free-agent market was unique since free agency was interrupted by a lockout, which forced some top free agents to take lesser deals than they typically would have.

Correa was among them, as he signed a three-year, $105.3 million deal with the Twins after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Houston Astros.

The contract included an opt-out clause after the first year, and rather than taking a $35 million salary for 2023 in Minnesota, Correa decided to test the market.

That decision paid off, as the 28-year-old star secured the long-term deal he was unable to get last offseason.

While his annual salary of nearly $27 million is less than what he was making in Minnesota, Correa now has long-term security and likely won't have to test the free-agent market again during his career.

The Twins' final offer, as reported by Heyman, would have paid Correa more per year than the Giants' as well, but the extra three years the Giants were willing to add conceivably helped to seal the deal.

In Correa, the Giants are getting a hugely accomplished shortstop who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 MLB draft and went on to earn two All-Star nods, one Gold Glove Award and one World Series championship in his seven seasons with the Astros.

Correa remained productive in his only season with the Twins, hitting .291 with 22 home runs, 64 RBI and 70 runs scored, but Minnesota missed the playoffs with a 78-84 record.

The Twins have not been overly active in free agency with catcher Christian Vázquez being their only notable signing thus far. The only splashy signing still potentially available to them is likely that of shortstop Dansby Swanson.

Like Correa, Swanson was a No. 1 overall draft pick, and he went on to have a great run with the Atlanta Braves, securing one All-Star selection, one Gold Glove Award and one World Series win in seven seasons.

Swanson is coming off a career-best offensive season that saw him hit .277 with 25 homers, 96 RBI, 99 runs scored and 18 stolen bases, and he is the last of the big-name shortstops remaining in free agency.

Heyman noted that the Twins will "consider" signing Swanson, although they likely won't be the only team vying for his services.

Minnesota could potentially salvage its offseason by signing Swanson, but if he goes elsewhere, it will essentially be impossible to replace what Correa brought to the table.

The San Francisco Giants finally made their free-agent splash Tuesday night by reportedly signing Carlos Correa to the largest-ever contract for a shortstop in terms of total dollars.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Giants inked Correa to a 13-year, $350 million deal, giving them the big fish they were seeking after losing out on their pursuit of outfielder Aaron Judge to the New York Yankees.

Given their market size, the Giants had a fairly modest payroll before the Correa signing, with Spotrac listing it at $112.9 million. When adding in Correa's projected yearly salary of $26,923,077, San Francisco's payroll jumps up to $139,823,077.

The move also beefed up the Giants' offensive firepower significantly, giving them a projected lineup that could look like this:

1. Mike Yastrzemski - CF
2. Carlos Correa - SS
3. Mitch Haniger - RF
4. Joc Pederson - LF
5. Brandon Crawford - DH
6. J.D. Davis - 3B
7. Wilmer Flores - 1B
8. Thairo Estrada - 2B
9. Joey Bart - C

While president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi likely still has some work to do, the acquisitions of Correa and Haniger in free agency should help the Giants improve on their 81-81 record from last season.

While San Francisco was only an average team that failed to reach the playoffs last season, it posted an MLB-best 107-55 record the previous season, beating out the rival Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League West.

The current team is far different from that 2021 squad, however, as catcher Buster Posey is retired, first baseman Brandon Belt and third baseman Evan Longoria are free agents, and starting pitcher Kevin Gausman is with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Also, veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford was the Giants' best offensive player that season, hitting .298 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI, and following the acquisition of Correa, it is possible he could be traded before the start of the 2023 campaign.

San Francisco has been busy this offseason with the signings of Correa, outfielder Mitch Haniger and starting pitchers Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea, but it can be argued that the team's overall improvement is negligible if Belt, Longoria and starting pitcher Carlos Rodón all leave in free agency.

Correa gives the Giants an established star at the shortstop position, though, and someone with plenty of winning experience.

In eight MLB seasons with the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins, Correa is a two-time All-Star, one-time Gold Glove Award winner and one-time World Series winner. He has also taken part in the playoffs in six separate seasons.

Correa hit .291 with 22 home runs, 64 RBI and 70 runs scored in his only season with the Twins in 2022, and for his career, he is hitting .279 with 155 homers, 553 RBI and 508 runs in 888 games.

Signing Judge likely would have made a far bigger impact and given the Giants a true anchor for their lineup, but Correa was arguably the top position player available outside of Judge, and the 28-year-old veteran should be a key player for a long time to come.

The addition may not be enough to knock the Dodgers from their perch in the NL West, but the Giants do at least seem to be inching closer to playoff contention compared to where they were last season.

And then there was one.

Shortstop was a central focus of Major League Baseball's offseason with Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson all hitting free agency, but only the latter remains unsigned after Correa agreed to a massive 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Swanson will have no shortage of suitors and potential top landing spots, as ESPN's Buster Olney pointed out the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves are all looking to fill the shortstop position.

Swanson is in an ideal bargaining position given the need for shortstops across the league and some of the contracts that have been handed out.

Turner agreed to an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, while Bogaerts joined the San Diego Padres on an 11-year, $280 million contract. Swanson may not land those types of contracts given he doesn't quite have the same track record as his colleagues, but he is surely in line for a massive deal at this point.

He is coming off the first All-Star campaign of his career that saw him slash .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs, 96 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

Throw in his first career Gold Glove, and it is clear how Swanson can impact the game in a number of ways. He was responsible for nine defensive runs saved above average in 2022, per FanGraphs.

Minnesota, Boston and Atlanta all make sense as possible landing spots for the Vanderbilt product given what has unfolded this offseason. The Twins lost Correa, the Red Sox lost Bogaerts and the Braves are somewhat in limbo with Swanson as the incumbent player at the position.

Then there is Chicago, which has been connected to seemingly every shortstop in the market at some point as it looks to bounce back from two straight losing seasons and perhaps move Nico Hoerner to second base to form a dominant defense up the middle.

It would be difficult to classify the Cubs' offseason as anything but a failure if they are unable to land any of the four top shortstops after some early secondary moves that saw them add Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon.

Swanson has all the leverage in this situation with a big-market team that could be desperate to close the gap on the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central, so don't be surprised if he ends up in Chicago blue before the end of the offseason.

The New York Mets have shown interest in free-agent shortstop Carlos Correa, per Ken Rosenthal, Dan Hayes and Andy McCullough of The Athletic.

Correa would play third base for the Mets with All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor already entrenched at the position in New York.

The Mets have already been big spenders in free agency, adding starting pitchers Justin Verlander (two years, $86.7 million) and Koudai Senga (five years, $75 million).

They've also re-signed outfielder Brandon Nimmo (eight years, $162 million) and closer Edwin Diaz (five years, $102 million).

Correa's future contract should easily dwarf all of those numbers. The shortstop market has been lucrative, with stars Trea Turner ($300 million with the Philadelphia Phillies) and Xander Bogaerts ($280 million with the San Diego Padres) signing big deals.

He could land a contract north of $300 million—Jim Bowden of The Athletic notably predicted that Correa would go to the Chicago Cubs for 10 years and $327 million.

The two-time All-Star excelled for the Minnesota Twins last year with a .291 batting average, 22 home runs, 64 RBI and an .834 OPS.

He played seven seasons with the Houston Astros before signing with the Twins last year. Correa inked a three-year, $105.3 million deal but opted out of that contract.

Correa's decision to bet on himself should be quite lucrative. He doesn't have a shortage of suitors, with Jon Heyman of the New York Post reporting on other teams in the mix.

Giants, Twins, Cubs are among teams in on Carlos Correa, who has the advantages of being a little younger than Bogaerts and Turner and also having no qualifying offer

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2022

However, Mets owner Steve Cohen has shown he isn't afraid to go over the top in New York, as the team sported the second-highest payroll in baseball last year. It's not impossible to see Correa with the Mets because of Cohen's willingness to spend even if he'd be playing a new position. Still, New York should have plenty of competition as the market apparently heats up for the star shortstop.

Carlos Correa reportedly has no shortage of suitors as his free agency continues.

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, "at least six teams are interested" in the shortstop with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs having "the inside track."

This comes after MLB Network Radio's Steve Phillips reported Monday that the Twins and San Francisco Giants were the favorites for Correa.

Shortstop was a major focus of this offseason with Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson all hitting free agency. Turner (11 years, $300 million) and Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million) already signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, respectively, and it may not be a jump to suggest Correa will command an even more lucrative deal.

After all, he is theoretically in the middle of his prime at 28 years old and has a World Series title, Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove and two All-Star selections to his name.

He spent his first seven years on the Houston Astros and then joined the Twins as a free agent last offseason. He slashed .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI for the American League Central team.

It doesn't come as much surprise the Twins are interested in keeping him given they signed him to a three-year, $105.3 million deal last offseason. That contract featured an opt-out clause that Correa eventually used, but it was clear Minnesota wanted him for multiple seasons.

As for the Cubs, their interest is nothing new.

In fact, Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted they pursued him last offseason before he signed with the Twins. Chicago met with Correa during winter meetings and was also connected to Bogaerts and Swanson at times this offseason.

Whether Chicago's ownership is willing to commit the type of money it will take to sign Correa remains to be seen, but the team is clearly looking to add a shortstop and move Nico Hoerner over to second base.

It will have to beat out the Twins and others, though, if that shortstop is going to be Correa.

The market for the best MLB free agent on the board might be narrowing.

MLB Network Radio's Steve Phillips reported Monday the San Francisco Giants and Minnesota Twins are seen as the favorites in the sweepstakes for star shortstop Carlos Correa.

While a few of the top free agents have signed new deals, adopting a more patient approach has worked in Correa's favor.

The pacts for Trea Turner (11 years, $300 million) and Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million) have helped shape his market value. You wouldn't expect Correa to get less money than Turner or Bogaerts considering he's better than both.

Percentiles for the four shortstops, among their peers at their position, aka why Correa will get the big bucks.

(arm strength / sprint speed / swSTR% / Barrel rate / O-Swing% courtesy of Baseball Savant and FanGraphs) pic.twitter.com/CsvbmCDQmR

— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) December 12, 2022

The Giants and Twins aren't in a strong position to negotiate either.

San Francisco has shown a willingness to spend, but that doesn't matter much if star players don't sign. Having already missed out on Aaron Judge, not landing Correa will make this a bitterly disappointing offseason.

"4 years ago they were in the same position with Bryce Harper and didn't get him either. They HAVE to make a big splash now. They have to go get Carlos Correa."@susanslusser on what's next for the Giants and if they ever had a real chance to sign Judge. #HighHeat pic.twitter.com/XLbvI05UUZ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 7, 2022

Minnesota, meanwhile, has to pay the same tax often required of smaller-market franchises when a talent as good as Correa is in the picture. Last year, that meant agreeing to a contract that allowed him to walk after only one season.

If Correa prefers a return to the Twins, then he might have to act fast. The Star Tribune's LaVelle E. Neal III reported the team might look toward other targets such as shortstop Dansby Swanson if there isn't a resolution within the next few days.

In general, it feels as though a final decision could come soon because there isn't much more benefit in waiting for Correa. The shortstop market has largely taken shape already, and you would've expected a mystery team to emerge by now.