Carlos Correa Signs With Giants; Where do the Twins Go From Here?

After one season with the Minnesota Twins, Carlos Correa is headed to the San Francisco Giants on a 13-year, $350 million contract, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The new deal cements Correa as the highest paid shortstop in baseball and gives him the fourth largest contract guarantee in MLB history, behind only Mike Trout ($426.5M), Mookie Betts ($365M), and Aaron Judge ($360M). Correa made it clear he was after the most money he could get, and the Giants stepped up to the plate.

To their credit, the Twins made a legitimate push for Correa. According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Minnesota offered Correa $285 million over 10 years, the largest in franchise history by far. A better AAV on a shorter deal, but clearly Correa wanted to secure as much money as he could on what is likely to be his last MLB contract. When it was all said and done, the Giants offered $70 million more and blew the Twins out of the water.

Where do the Twins go from here?

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

So what comes next? First, the Twins need to take a long look in the mirror and make some decisions about their future. They could pivot and allocate some of that Correa money toward Carlos Rodón or Dansby Swanson. Heyman reported that the Twins have been having conversations with Swanson. The Twins are also rumored to be heavily in the mix for Rodón already.

However, it’s reasonable to question what 2023 holds for Minnesota. Rodón is absolutely capable of being the ace on a staff and they should go after him regardless. However, without Correa, the Twins have a gaping hole in the middle of their lineup. Even with him, they needed to add another impact bat, and now they might need two of them. Dansby Swanson is a fine player, but he’s not the offensive force the team needs.

The AL Central is weak and anything is possible, but a playoff team can’t be running out Kyle Farmer as the shortstop every day. If the Twins want to compete, they are counting on massive improvement from Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and even better results from Jose Miranda. That all could very well happen, but it shouldn’t be the primary plan.

The next few days will be key to the Twins’ future. If Falvine feel like this team can still contend without Correa, you’ll see them spend accordingly. If not, it might be time to restock the farm system. With Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, and Kenta Maeda each in their last year before free agency, and Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco approaching the end of their deals, things could change drastically before the start of the 2023 season.