The Twins are facing a tight salary cap this offseason as they look to improve after missing out on a tough fall in September. With the club’s 2025 budget reportedly set at $130MM and RosterResource payroll currently projected at $142MM, it’s no secret that the club is considering making a trade that will end the payroll this winter. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, that led other clubs to inquire with the Twins about the availability of the star shortstop. Carlos Correa. While Nightengale continued to insist that there was no indication that those questions were more serious than the first call, baseball president Derek Falvey did address the possibility of a Correa trade during Day 1 of the Winter Meetings on Monday.
“It is clear that he expects teams to call such players, especially when we are there and in some of the discussions we have with other clubs,” Falvey said of Correa, as transferred by Nightengale. “But we want to win, so the standard is set.”
This is a marked change in tone from last month, when Falvey insisted that trading for Correa was not “the club’s focus” and called Correa an “important part” of the club’s plans on the sidelines. Byron Buxton again Pablo Lopez. Still, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported Monday that multiple sources with the Twins indicated it was “hard to envision” the club parting ways with Correa. Given that apparent reluctance to deal with their star shortstop and the seemingly very preliminary nature of questions about his availability, it still seems more likely than not that Correa remains in a Twins uniform for Opening Day 2025.
That being said, the idea of trading in Correa is quite surprising. Correa’s recent history has been very turbulent. After signing with Minnesota on a short-term deal through the 2021-22 season, Correa re-entered free agency the following year after a solid breakout season and reached deals with both the Giants and Mets before those deals fell through due to health issues. . That led to Correa rejoining the Twins in his current deal, which calls for him to reach $128MM over the next four seasons before a series of four team options that give Correa guaranteed years by reaching certain plate appearance thresholds or earning money. top-5 MVP, Silver Slugger award, or LCS/World Series MVP award in the season prior to the option.
Correa’s complex contract also comes with a full no-trade clause, meaning he would have to agree to any deal that gets him out of Minnesota. Also complicating any trade talks involving Correa is his up-and-down performance since re-signing in the Twin Cities; the shortstop’s 2023 season saw him post 1.8 fWAR and a 95 wRC+ over a career-high 135 games while playing through plantar fasciitis. His performance returned to impressive heights in 2024 as he hit .310/.388/.517 with a 155 wRC+, but plantar fasciitis again plagued him and limited the shortstop to just 86 games. Overall, the 30-year-old hit .261/.341/.444 (119 wRC+) in 221 games over the past two seasons.
Given Correa’s attractive value when he’s healthy, it’s easy to imagine that at least some big-money clubs are willing to gamble on his contract. That won’t be enough to seal the deal, however, as Falvey has made it clear he’s not interested in dealing Correa just for relief. Even if Correa were willing to waive his no-trade clause to leave Minnesota, it remains unclear whether interested clubs would be willing to part with the kind of package that would entice Falvey to make a deal to acquire him. While the club has the first round of 2022 Brooks Lee as a possible option to take over at shortstop in the event Correa is traded, he struggled for a .221/.265/.320 slash line in his first taste of big league action and may not be ready to start everyday. 2025 season.
With the Correa deal seemingly unlikely to come together, it still looks like the Twins will have to shell out salary somewhere. To that end, the Nightengale highlights a helpful person Willi Castrothe right hand Chris Paddackand the handler Christian Vazquez “as obvious trade candidates,” though he suggests none of the three will return much value in return beyond salary cap. It’s not the first time the trio has come up as potential trades this winter, but if the Twins were able to clear all three off the books that would free up a combined cap hit of $23.7MM using Castro’s final projection of $6.2MM. a tour through mediation provided by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
If Minnesota had been able to free up all that money, they would have had $10.5MM to invest in other roster spots. To that end, Nightengale notes that Falvey described adding an “attractive” first baseman. Carlos Santana by opting for free agency last month, and right-handed with outfielders Matt Wallner again Trevor Larnach it would also make sense for a losing club Manuel Margot in free agency in November as well. Ramon Laureano, Mark Canhaagain Austin Hays are among the most interesting budget options available on the right-hand side of the market, while the Santana is joined by the likes of Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzoagain Paul Goldschmidt at the lower levels of the first market this winter.
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