The situation involving the New York Mets and All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa seems to have changed dramatically.
Less than 24 hours after it was reported the Mets and Correa could announce a deal “perhaps even by week’s end,” SNY’s Andy Martino said on Friday that the Amazins have grown “very frustrated” with negotiations and “are now considering walking away altogether.”
Martino noted an agreement between the sides is still possible, but he also said that this is “the first time the team is seriously questioning whether it wants to proceed.”
Jon Heyman and Greg Joyce of the New York Post reported Thursday the Mets wished to add language to their 12-year, $315 million agreement with Correa to ensure the contract isn’t fully guaranteed in the event he misses significant playing time due to surgery he required in 2014 to repair a fractured right fibula and a ligament. Doctors from the Mets and San Francisco Giants reportedly flagged that old injury in physicals this offseason.
Correa was initially set to join the Giants via a 13-year, $350 million deal before Christmas until San Francisco walked away over concerns linked with his physical.
Heyman and Joyce sang a different tune later Thursday evening, though, and reported that “Correa’s camp renewed contact with at least another interested team or two beyond the Mets” after negotiations with New York “ran into at least a hiccup or two.” The Minnesota Twins, who signed Correa last March, had offered the 28-year-old roughly $285 million over 10 years and are believed to be one of the teams now in contact with Scott Boras, his agent.
One Mets person told Heyman and Joyce he didn’t think team owner Steve Cohen would let Correa “go,” but that was before Martino’s update. While Martino added the Mets and Correa’s camp are trying to “work through the issues,” there appear to be legitimate reasons to believe he won’t be playing third base next to Francisco Lindor when Opening Day arrives.
