The San Francisco Giants swung and missed on Aaron Judge, Xander Bogaerts, Brandon Nimmo, and several other free agents.
They entered the offseason with money to spend and the willingness to return to relevancy after a mediocre 2022 campaign in which they finished 81-81.
They finally found the right match to give away a huge deal: they agreed to terms with shortstop Carlos Correa on a 13-year, $350 million contract to keep him in the Bay Area until he is 40.
Correa wanted a large, long-term deal last season and had the numbers to pursue one, but the uncertainty surrounding the future of baseball and the lockout scared teams away.
After another successul campaign with the Minnesota Twins in 2022 and a much clearer financial landscape, MLB organizations finally started to make offers closer to his valuation of himself.
With the length of his commitment, he is joining Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper in an impressive group.
“Correa becomes the third player this offseason to sign a deal of at least 11 years (Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts). He joins Bryce Harper (13/$330M w/PHI in March 2019) as the only free agents in history to sign a 13-year deal, eclipsing Harper’s total guarantee by $20 million,” MLB insider Mark Feinsand tweeted.
Correa becomes the third player this offseason to sign a deal of at least 11 years (Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts).
He joins Bryce Harper (13/$330M w/PHI in March 2019) as the only free agents in history to sign a 13-year deal, eclipsing Harper’s total guarantee by $20 million.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 14, 2022
Inflation Makes These Long-Term Deals More Palatable For Teams
The Harper and Correa deals are actually a perfect way to illustrate how inflation makes these deals more palatable for teams in the later years.
Harper is a better player than Correa, yet he signed a $330 million pact before the 2019 campaign and Correa put pen to paper on a $350 million deal.
Perhaps a worse player than Correa will sign for $370 million in three years.
By the time Correa is older and not as good, he will be a financial liability, but not as much as we all think.
For now, he is elite: with 22 homers, a .291/.366/.467 line, a 140 wRC+ and 4.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in 2022, he figures to dominate for at least a few more years.
He will do it in San Francisco.
NEXT: Carlos Correa Bet On Himself And Won