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The Houston Astros have offered free agent SS Carlos Correa a five-year contract worth $160 million, Mark Berman reported on Saturday evening. Correa, who is a free agent this offseason, helped the Astros get to the World Series for a second time in his career. He’s expected to command a ton of interest around the League. This is just the first offer for Correa at this point. Teams can begin negotiating with players on Sunday.
Among the free agent shortstops this offseason joining Correa are Corey Seager and Trevor Story. Chances are Correa will set the market, which is pretty high at $32 million per season. Seager and Story can use Correa’s deal to get more money or term from a team in need of a shortstop. Javier Baez and Marcus Semien are also infielders available on the open market. Semien played 2B most of this past season with the Blue Jays. Baez can also move around a bit, into the outfield or to 2B or 3B on a new team.
The New York Yankees are a team with money and they are in desperate need of a quality SS. Along with the Yanks, the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are all reportedly interested in Correa. The Yankees will likely be the front-runners if Correa opts not to re-sign with Houston.
Correa, 27, is coming off his best MLB season since 2017. He hit .279 with 26 HRs and 92 RBI in 148 games, the most games he’s played in a season since 2016. Health has always been the big issue with Correa the past few seasons. He was fine in 2021 and was named to the AL All-Star team. The thing is Correa is still relatively young. You’d think he could command a contract with longer term, perhaps in the 6- or 7-year range.