LAS VEGAS — If the Twins do decide to shop at Dior this offseason, Carlos Correa has promised to bring with him a list of suggested changes he thinks the organization needs to make.
As he observed the franchise this past season, Correa was very pleased to discover the infrastructure the team already has in place. He was excited by the team’s young talent, found a capable coaching staff and was enthused by the analytics department.
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But he has ideas on how things could be better. And for the Twins to get a look at that list, they will have to outbid other teams for his services and sign him to a long-term deal — Correa opted out of his contract on Monday and elected free agency.
The price tag for Correa promises to be steep. In September, Correa, whose $35.1 million salary in 2022 was the highest annual average salary ever earned by a major-league infielder, compared himself to a pricy item at the Dior store.
The Twins already know he’s worth every penny.
Not only was Correa valued at 4.5 Wins Above Replacement by FanGraphs and 5.4 by Baseball Reference after hitting .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs, he largely exceeded the team’s expectations for what he would provide off the field.
Whether it was giving an incoming reliever an accurate scouting report of an opponent, counseling a young teammate on myriad topics, or even identifying his own teammates tipping pitches, Correa improved the Twins in ways they never imagined when they signed him last March.
“The vision he has, the awareness, the anticipation about what is going to come next,” Twins assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez said. “When he needs to talk to a teammate about an adjustment that needs to be made, or just, to like, picking up a teammate, or paying attention to small details in the game that others don’t see — he makes us better in everything, in the field, everywhere.”
Michael Fulmer was in a trying spot, forced to intentionally walk Aaron Judge to load the bases with one out in the ninth inning on Sept. 8 and the Twins ahead by a run.
Yet before the Yankees slugger had even reached first base, Correa was next to him on the mound and in Fulmer’s ear with advice.
Correa knew Gleyber Torres would be sitting on the slider, a pitch Fulmer offered to opponents 63 percent of the time last season. As the conversation continued and teammates and pitching coach Pete Maki gathered around, Correa recommended Fulmer instead throw Torres a sinker. They’d get a ground ball, get a double play and escape with the Twins’ first victory at Yankee Stadium since May 4, 2019.
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“He’s coming up and saying ‘Hey, I like sinker here, I think we can get in on guys, they’re going to be looking out over the plate,'” Fulmer said. “That’s something I’ve never really had before and I love it because if everybody on the infield is on the same page, it’s going to give me confidence to execute that pitch.”
Fulmer started Torres out with a sinker for ball one before missing with a slider. Down 2-0, Fulmer stayed away from his go-to pitch and threw a pair of two-seamers for strikes to even the count at 2-2. Fulmer followed with a slider well off the plate and Torres chased it for a strikeout.
A few pitches later, Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to second base and the Twins snapped a 10-game losing streak (playoffs included) at Yankee Stadium.
“(Correa) has a pretty good feeling for what to say and when to say it and how to say it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The material is usually pretty good, too.”
Though they had only been teammates since Fulmer was acquired in an Aug. 2 trade from Detroit, the reliever said he instantly felt welcomed by Correa.
Fulmer said he’s never been afraid to ask his teammates what they’re thinking about when they step in against certain pitchers. He and ex-Twins outfielder Robbie Grossman held similar discussions in the clubhouse all the time, he said, in an effort to figure out how to improve.
But few, if any, teammates took charge on the mound like Correa did in the Bronx.
“I told him, ‘If you have anything at all, I love to learn,'” Fulmer said. “He’s a true leader on and off the field. It goes a long way in the clubhouse. You see the reason why he is who he is and the player he is. He takes care of himself and his body, and two, he takes care of everybody else around him, too.”
Rarely does a new player enter a clubhouse and capture everyone’s attention the way Correa did with the Twins in March. More impressive was how effortlessly Correa managed to do so.
While the 2022 club featured numerous veterans, the Twins were a roster in transit.
From July 2021 through the first weekend after the lockout in March, Nelson Cruz, Josh Donaldson and Mitch Garver were traded, leaving the Twins with a vocal leadership void.
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An expert at reading a room and relating to everyone, it didn’t take Correa long to determine how he could best benefit the 2022 Twins.
As much as Byron Buxton is the energy, the All-Star center fielder prefers to keep a low profile and let his spectacular play do the talking. The same goes for other Twins mainstays, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler.
While he’s a budding star and energetic as they come, Luis Arraez wasn’t ready to fill the leadership void, nor were newcomers Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.
By being himself, Correa instantly became the player everyone gravitated toward.
Throughout April and May, Kepler often noted how Correa had lightened the mood in the clubhouse and created a fun atmosphere. Other teammates echoed Kepler, praising Correa for getting the entire clubhouse on the same page through team dinners and events.
Pitcher or hitter, English speaker or Spanish speaker, Correa has a way of reaching everyone and pulling a room together. Ramirez, a longtime coach, said the only other player he’d seen have a similar impact is Miguel Cabrera.
“(With hitters), Miguel remembers stuff on how that guy pitched me three years ago — ‘He did this, that, whatever,'” Ramirez said. “(Carlos) has that ability.
“To me, (they’re the) best two ones that I’ve been around.”
Buxton feels the same way, for a different reason.
Bothered by a lingering knee injury all season that eventually required surgery, Buxton said Correa’s counsel for managing his workload was invaluable. Hearing directly from the talented shortstop made Buxton more comfortable with taking a much-needed day off.
The support Correa offered Buxton and everyone else on the roster is something Buxton said he’d never experienced prior.
“He’s amazing,” Buxton said in September. “It was mainly him telling me, ‘I know you’re hurting today. Don’t try to battle through it. Take a day. Let it heal and see how it feels tomorrow.’ That’s what you need to give you that clarity of, like, you know the guy’s got your back. All year long, that’s the way it felt in here. That’s how every guy felt. That was something that’s different in here that I haven’t been part of.”
Nick Gordon implemented a swing change this season to help him better drive the ball. Though it was intended to be a powerful stroke, Gordon’s early production was weak. He carried a sub-.600 OPS into mid-May.
But right there by Gordon’s side was Correa, who backed the message being passed along by hitting coach David Popkins — the production isn’t there yet, but the analytics like where things were headed.
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Gordon eventually turned it around and was named the Twins’ most-improved player after finishing with a career-high 28 doubles, nine homers and .743 OPS.
“(Correa) studies players, he studies the game,” Gordon said. “It’s the type of player you are, the type of player you want to be, things like that. Potential. He can just see. He sees. He’s got an eye for the game. It can be anything, baseball, non-baseball, whatever. It really doesn’t matter.
“How to make you a better person, a better player, everything. (Correa) and guys like (Buxton), they do the right thing. They teach you how to be better, how to evolve in the game, how to learn the game.
“Definitely the whole package.”
One of Correa’s goals with younger teammates is to help them become well-rounded players in order to improve the team while also eventually getting those players paid. Throughout the season, one of Correa’s biggest projects was rookie Jose Miranda.
Whether it was discussions about conditioning, how to approach pitchers, the importance of patience in an approach or ways to improve defense, Correa was constantly in Miranda’s ear.
During the final series of the season, Correa said he had nearly a dozen young teammates in his suite until 2 a.m. talking about baseball. It’s the same type of conversation he had during daily postgame meals with Urshela, Arraez and Sánchez — all baseball, all the time.
“He’s teaching me some things I didn’t know about before and I know them now that I’m in the bigs, which are important,” Miranda said. “It’s given me a lot of value. He’s told me a lot of stuff I didn’t know for the future if I want to be up here for a long time. I know the type of stuff I’ve got to work on.
“He’s a leader on and off the field.”
Gordon’s biggest takeaway from Correa was work ethic. But Correa didn’t have to hammer the message home through his words.
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“It’s who he is,” Gordon said. “Work hard. It’s all in front of you. Work hard. You don’t take any day for granted. You come in every single day, he’s ready to play, wants to play. That’s what we’re here for.”
Correa’s willingness to help extended to Twins staffers, too.
Frankie Padulo, the team’s run prevention coordinator, said Correa’s willingness to work with team analysts was critical for his own development.
Though he was a second baseman at Cornell, the majority of Padulo’s work since joining the Twins had been away from the field. But the way Correa embraced analytics this season opened up more avenues for Padulo to work with players.
“I’ve been in the cage more, I’ve been on the field a little bit more,” Padulo said. “Having a guy like him who understands the numbers side, it’s kind of an ally for me in terms of getting guys to buy in.”
Correa is a big proponent of analytics. From early in his career, he’s been curious about how teams use analytics to evaluate players with the goal of making himself more complete.
Over time, his understanding of analytics has refined how Correa approaches and uses them. Padulo thinks having a talented player like Correa so committed has helped him adapt how he approaches young players and he can point to Correa as an example.
“It’s given me a better sense for how players apply what I do to their game and how that’s been done successfully,” Padulo said. “It helped my messaging. ‘Here’s what I see and how you can put it into practice.’
“When you have a guy that players really respect and he can help with that, it’s going to make our jobs easier and make everybody better.”
GO DEEPER
Carlos Correa, the Twins’ superstar stat-head
After one game early in September, Correa had an animated discussion with his veteran catcher, Sánchez. From his perch at shortstop, Correa had identified a way Sánchez had potentially been tipping the upcoming pitch to opponents through his setup.
After Correa explained what he’d observed to Sánchez, Ramirez, standing at the ready, jumped into the conversation with a video of Sánchez in his crouch.
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While Ramirez wouldn’t later confirm a reporter’s observations of the above conversation, he agreed Correa is an astute observer.
“Like I said, he sees small details in the game that others don’t pay attention to,” Ramirez said. “He helps out pitchers sometimes in the game when there’s a runner on second base and he sees stuff, maybe a tip or something, and he’ll bring it up to me or goes straight to the pitcher. He’s a special player.”
Though it’s not easy to quantify, Correa’s intelligence and observational skills could have as much value to a team as his strong arm and powerful bat.
Those are two more reasons the Twins are said to be very interested in bringing Correa back into the fold. One executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not allowed to discuss negotiations, described Correa as a “freaking role model.”
To re-acquire Correa, the Twins would have to open the checkbook and write out an amount they’ve previously been unwilling to spend. The biggest contract in club history is the eight-year deal worth $184 million signed by Joe Mauer in 2009.
The Twins potentially would have to offer a deal of seven to eight years at a similar annual average salary as he received in 2022 to reel Correa in — perhaps even more.
While the last few seasons of any megadeal might be hard to swallow, a new contract would give the Twins access to a unique player who not only would be spending his prime years playing an impact position for them, but also delivering the team a leader with an outstanding aptitude for baseball.
“He watches and understands the game like someone who’s been in the game for 30 years and has that type of experience and knowledge,” Baldelli said. “There’s an element of wisdom to what he sees and how he sees it.”
(Top photo: Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire / AP Images)
