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| Carlos Correa |
Give the Giants credit. They dusted themselves off and took a big swing at the second-biggest free agent available. This time, they converted, reeling in All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa with a 13-year, $350 million contract.
Thirteen years!
Correa is 28 years old, a superstar in the prime of his career. I don't doubt for one second that Correa is going to be tremendously productive during the front half of that contract. The back half? We'll see. The deal takes him through his age-40 season. He might not be so good by then, but if the Giants win the World Series while Correa is still an elite player, I'm sure they can live with it.
The thing about Correa is, he was a free agent last offseason, too. He signed with the Minnesota Twins for three years, $105 million -- with an opt out after each season. After one season with Minnesota, he opted out and bet on himself. Now, he's cashed in big.
I've heard that Correa was looking for a 10-year deal last year. The Cubs were among the teams interested, but ultimately, nobody was willing to give him that length of contract. Had a team offered him that, they'd probably have Correa under contract for nine more years at this point.
Instead, he went back on the open market and got himself 13 years, after two other prominent shortstops signed for 11 years -- Trea Turner in Philadelphia and Xander Bogaerts in San Diego.
It just goes to show that the price for these elite players only tends to go up. Some of these teams that are waiting for the price to come down to levels they are "comfortable" with, that's just a failing strategy.
Now, Dansby Swanson is the top remaining shortstop on the market. He's a good player, but he's not a franchise changer like Correa or Turner.
However, I won't be surprised if some team gives Swanson the contract that Correa should have gotten last season.
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