Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The focus of MLB free agency this offseason has been shared by Aaron Judge, Jacob deGrom, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson reaching the open market.
The group of All-Stars have benefitted from multiple teams having interest in more than one of the free agents, and it’s help amount to lavish contracts.
Among shortstops, Turner was first to set the market by signing an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The San Diego Padres followed by signing Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million deal.
Now the latest domino to fall was Correa. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Correa signed with the San Francisco Giants for 13 years and $350 million:
BREAKING: Shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a 13-year, $350 million contract, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 14, 2022
Heading into free agency, Correa was widely projected to receive the most lucrative contract of the top shortstops. At $350 million, that should wind up bearing out even with Swanson still a free agent and the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals in the market for a shortstop.
For Correa, he cashes in after signing a short-term contract with the Twins last offseason. That was an unexpected development after the MLB lockout, and the deal included an opt-out clause so that Correa could immediately test free agency the following year.
Correa hit .291/.366/.467 with 24 doubles, 22 home runs and 64 RBI in his lone season with the Twins.
Did the Dodgers try to sign Carlos Correa?
Early into free agency the Dodgers reportedly had some interest in signing Correa, but more recently the front office was said to have cooled on the possibility out of concern over how he would be received by fans because of being part of the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal.
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