New York Mets Jump In To Grab Carlos Correa In An Overnight Shocker

In an overnight shocker, Carlos Correa has become the latest member of the New York Mets.

There was a hint on Tuesday that his 13-year, $350 million agreement with the San Francisco Giants was in trouble. The Giants had scheduled a news conference to announce the signing but postponed it, apparently due to questions on his physical.

Mets owner Steve Cohen, who was in Hawaii, swooped in to grab him for 12 years, at $315 million. The deal is pending the Mets’ physical but Cohen appears more comfortable with the details than the Giants. The Mets had emerged as a possibility to sign Correa shortly before he agreed with the Giants a week ago.

With Francisco Lindor at shortstop, the Mets plan to move Correa to third base. Cohen told the New York Post that he fills the Mets’ need to add one more big bat to their lineup. Agent Scott Boras and Cohen reportedly completed the deal in a matter of hours late Tuesday, picking up where they left off before Correa opted for the offer from the Giants, which included a 13th year.

The Mets have been the most aggressive team in an off-season in which Major League Baseball teams have taken free-agent spending to a new level. The biggest deal of the winter remains the Yankees’ nine-year, $360 million extension with Aaron Judge but the Mets have been by far the busiest team.

Their addition of Justin Verlander came with a two-year, $86.67 million contract but prior to Correa their biggest deals were to retain center fielder Brandon Nimmo ($162 million, eight years) and closer Edwin Diaz ($102 million, five years). They also resigned set-up man Adam Ottavino (two years, $14.5 million) while adding pitcher Kodai Senga (five years, $75 million), catcher Omar Narvaez (two years, $15 million) along with free agent pitchers Jose Quintana (two years, $26 million) and David Robertson (one year, $10 million).

Correa joins a lineup that includes Lindor, Nimmo, Pete Alonso and NL batting champ Jeff McNeil. The Mets, under executives Sandy Alderson and Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter, won 101 games last year but were upset by San Diego in the first round of the postseason.

The Giants were believed to have been a runner-up in the Judge negotiations. The loss of Correa is another blow.