Last week saw an incredible free agent plot twist unprecedented in baseball history. reports It came out last week that the Giants had agreed to terms with the shortstop Carlos Correa On a 13-year, $350MM deal. That deal, like all free agent deals, was pending. However, it was reported An issue with Correa’s health yesterday caused the Giants to delay a press conference set to introduce Correa. What followed was a shocking midnight Report Correa signed a new deal with the Mets for 12 years and $315MM.
The entire baseball world is still trying to piece together how such a strange turn of events happened. Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, offered his view today, commenting Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle And Ken Rosenthal of the Athletics.
“We reached an agreement. We had a letter of agreement. We gave them a deadline to implement it,” Boras said. “They advised us that they still had questions. They still wanted to talk to other people, other doctors, to go through it. I said, ‘Look, I’ve given you a fair amount of time. We have to take this forward. Give me some time. If you’re not going to implement, I’ll have to talk to other groups.
It’s not yet publicly known what issue the Giants diagnosed with Correa’s health, but Boras is framing it as an old injury that dates back to Correa’s time in the majors. “You’re talking about a player who played eight major league seasons,” Boras said. “There’s stuff in his medical records that goes back decades. It’s all speculative mechanics. Every team has the right to go and evaluate things. The bottom line is we gave them (the Giants) medical reports at the time. They still wanted to sign the player and negotiate with the player.
Correa suffered a season-ending leg injury in the minor leagues in 2014, but Rosenthal says he hasn’t been on the injured list since his promotion to the majors because of a lower leg injury. He’s also had back pain in the past, but his last IL stint was in 2019 for a back injury.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi also offered a comment without going into specifics. “While we are prohibited from releasing confidential medical information, as Scott Boras has publicly stated, there is disagreement over the results of Carlos’ physical examination,” Zaidi told reporters. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We want the best for Carlos.”
It’s worth reiterating that while the Giants haven’t provided any details, we only have one side of the story. As Correa’s agent, Boras is surely motivated to brush off the Giants’ concerns as unreasonable or non-issues. Correa’s new contract with the Mets is also pending and won’t be official until it’s done. However, if the Mets have the same concerns as the Giants, it may be difficult for them to bounce back in the same fashion. SNY’s Andy Martino Owner Steve Cohen has already discussed the deal, suggesting the Mets could face a downside if they back out of the deal.
Rosenthal noted that it’s not entirely unprecedented for medical personnel to come to different conclusions about a player’s health. This Boras-Metz situation is the opposite Kumar Rocker, selected 10th overall by the Mets in the 2021 draft. The Mets agreed to pay the rocker, who Boras represents, a $6MM bonus before medical concerns stalled the deal. Rocker re-entered the draft a year later and was selected third overall by the Rangers.
Free agents have occasionally agreed to terms with teams in the past, but problems have arisen before the deal is official. In a recent example, the reliever Grant Balfour Agreed to terms with the Orioles on a two-year, $15MM contract prior to the 2014 season. The O’s backed off after Balfour’s health, and he was replaced Signed Rays for two years and $12MM. However, a similar situation has never been seen before for a free agent of Korea’s stature.
