DALLAS – Twins executives will continue trade discussions after departing the site of the winter meetings Wednesday, but there is no expectation they will trade shortstop Carlos Correa.
Agent Scott Boras says Carlos Correa remains happy with Twins
The speculation surrounding Carlos Correa’s availability in a trade was overblown this week, Twins officials indicated at the winter meetings in Dallas.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 12, 2024 at 12:55AM
The speculation surrounding Correa’s availability was overblown this week, club officials indicated, as they continue to emphasize they are not doing anything more than their normal due diligence when asked about any of their best players. They have no desire to shop Correa despite their own payroll limitations, which they’ve communicated to teams.
Correa, who is owed $36 million next year, holds a no-trade clause, too.
“The last time I talked to him, he told me the fishing was good,” Scott Boras, Correa’s agent, said Wednesday when asked if Correa was content with the direction of the team. “So, yeah, he’s happy there.”
The sense at the winter meetings is the trade market was starting to show movement following a few major free agent signings, but with few teams in complete rebuilds, most clubs are looking to swap big leaguers instead of receiving prospects.
The Chicago White Sox, an obvious exception, shipped All-Star lefthander Garrett Crochet to Boston for a group of four prospects Wednesday. The Cleveland Guardians dealt Gold Glove second baseman Andrés Giménez to Toronto, and they eventually turned their return from the deal into a starting pitcher, Luis Ortiz, from Pittsburgh.
Chris Paddack is arguably the Twins’ top trade candidate because he will make $7.5 million next year and he’s eligible to become a free agent after the 2025 season. It’s unclear the level of return the Twins could expect because of his injury history, but the growing price of free agent starting pitchers could be advantageous.
Christian Vázquez is owed $10 million in the final year of his contract, but there aren’t many backup catching alternatives available in free agency if the Twins want Ryan Jeffers to maintain catching about 80 games a season.
Derek Falvey, the Twins’ president of baseball operations, said they’re open to kicking around creative ideas because that’s what led them to their Luis Arraez for Pablo López deal in 2023, but he’s repeated it would take a “high bar” to even start a conversation about Correa, Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton or any of their other top players.
The speculation surrounding shortstop Carlos Correa’s availability in a trade was overblown this week, Twins officials indicated at the winter meetings in Dallas.
