Carlos Correa Free Agency saga Leads Back to Minnesota Twins

When Carlos Correa agreed to terms with the New York Mets, his agent called it Correamas Day, but for those who have been following the saga leading up to the shortstop agreeing to a six-year deal with a vesting option with the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, it has felt more like Correahog Day.

On Tuesday, the Twins and Correa came to terms on a deal that would guarantee $200 million over six years. Included are vesting options that pay $25 million for a seventh year, $20 million for an eighth, $15 million for a ninth and $10 million for a 10th. It also includes a full no-trade clause and annual salaries of $36 million for the first three years, followed by $31.5 million, $30.5 million and $30 million.

The maximum value is $270 million -- about $7.5 million more than the Mets would have paid him through 10 years but $15 million less than the Twins were set to guarantee him the first time. The average annual value of Correa's guaranteed deal is $33.3 million, the second-highest figure for a shortstop behind only Francisco Lindor's 10-year, $341 million deal with the Mets, and while the total dollars pale to Correa's Giants deal, ending up at $200 million, following a pair of failed physicals, is far from worst-case.

The Correa saga is laden with what-ifs. What if they had paused and negotiated with the Giants? What if Cohen hadn't gone on the record? What if Correa or the Mets had caved? What if the Twins didn't swoop in? For now, as the proceedings seem to march toward the finish line, there is only one question to be answered: Did he pass his physical?

And if he does, the most tortuous, whiplash-inducing free agency in baseball history finally will see its end.