There were plenty of stunning trades around Major League Baseball on Thursday, but Carlos Correa’s return to the Houston Astros easily tops the list.
Correa signed a six-year, $200 million contract with the Minnesota Twins before the 2023 season began. He was part of the Twins’ first playoff series win in 21 years, and an obvious leader in the clubhouse. But with the team in fire sale mode, it suddenly made sense for him to return to his old stomping ground.
An obvious question that arose after the deal was whether or not Correa requested, demanded, or in some way made clear that he wanted the trade. Rumors had flown about the Astros wanting him back, but he had a full no-trade clause, so it couldn’t have happened without his blessing.
On Friday, Correa and Twins president of baseball operations cleared up what really happened.
Both gave their accounts of what happened behind the scenes in a piece co-authored by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes.
“Carlos was never sitting there saying anything about demanding a trade or wanting to do something else,” Falvey said, per Rosenthal and Hayes. “If it was right for the Twins and it was right for him, he was open to the conversation.”
Correa, who recalled Falvey telling him that the team’s direction was “not what (he) signed up for,” clarified that the Astros were the only team he was willing to waive that no-trade clause for.
“When he told (me) that we were going to go into rebuild mode, I said then I deserve to go somewhere where I have a chance to win and my kids can watch me go out there in the playoffs and perform,” Correa said. “He agreed with me and he said out of respect for me he would get to work.”
Correa was the Astros’ No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft, and he won a World Series there in 2017. His parents still live in the area, as do his wife’s parents.
Now, Correa is headed in one direction, and the Twins are headed in a drastically different one. It was an amicable enough parting of ways, but it leaves behind all sorts of questions about what could have been in Minnesota.
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