In a dramatic twist last week, shortstop Carlos Correa was all set for a move to the New York Mets after his offseason decision to join the San Francisco Giants failed to come to fruition.

However, subsequent medical records showed that both the Giants and Mets shied away from the deals they submitted and Correa ultimately decided to sign a new contract with the Minnesota Twins.

What	MLB 2023 Season
Where	Various venues across the USA and Canada
When	30th March - 1st October
Odds	LA Dodgers +600, HOU Astros +600, NY Mets +700, NY Yankees +800

Full circle for Twins and Correa

The Twins reintroduced Carlos Correa at a news conference last week in a place where he didn’t want to be at the end of the 2022 regular season.

In a bizarre turnaround, Correa was part of three contracts worth $865million dollars from the West Coast to the East Coast and now back to the mid-west, where all the drama began.

All of this began when Correa had surgery back in June 2014 to repair a fractured right fibula and minor ligament damage as a 19-year-old prospect with the Houston Astros.

In mid-December, the Giants had just missed out on Aaron Judge, who decided to stay in New York, so they turned their attention to Correa.

The 28-year-old was the best player on the free agent market and the Giants offered him a 13-year, $350million deal, Minnesota simply couldn’t compete with a deal like that.

The Giants were set to announce the signing with a press conference following Correa’s physical. However, the news conference was cancelled and the Giants decided to baulk at the proposed deal.

Correa’s agent Scott Boras had said another club was interested in making a deal and he had no hesitation in calling the Mets when the Giants pulled out of the deal on ‘medical grounds’.

Correa would have to move to third base to accommodate Francisco Lindor who has the shortstop position his own in Queens. Correa’s deal would be worth $315million over 12 years and again this would be subject to a physical.

According to Correa, the Mets used the same ankle specialist as the Giants. Speaking to the Athletic Correa said: "He had already given an opinion to another team about my ankle. He was not going to change that. He was going to stand by what he was saying of course, because that is what he believed."

Mets approach sees Correa stay put

The Mets then re-evaluated the deal so that Correa would have physical checks every postseason. However, in the end Correa decided to stick with the Twins after they guaranteed him $270million over 10 years.

Correa was delighted to stay with Minnesota despite rejecting their first offer and opting out of his three-year deal in the first place.

He added: "It’s time to move on and focus now on the Minnesota Twins and the things I started doing last year with the team, to try and win a championship for Minnesota.

"There are no hard feelings towards both the Giants and Mets organisations. There’s nothing but respect for them. Doctors have differences of opinion, that’s fine."

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Are the Twins now contenders?

Signing Correa obviously improves the Twins, but first of all, can it make them win the American League Central Division ahead of the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox?

The Twins were certainly answering questions last season and it is expected to be a three-horse race for the Divisional title.

Minnesota are +300 to win the AL Central and compete in the playoffs, with the White Sox +135 and the Guardians +140.

The six-year immediate offering for Correa means that he and the Twins want to win now and reach the playoffs.

The White Sox should be a better side and the Guardians, who won the Division last season, have a young side ready to compete again.

All eyes are on Correa’s health for the time being, meanwhile, the Twins will turn their attention to adding to their pitching staff.

With the free-agent starting pitcher market seemingly bare after Johnny Cueto signing for the Miami Marlins, they may have to trade one of their current pitchers to bring someone in.

It’s been a long, drawn out saga that has eventually finished as it started at the beginning of 2022, when the Twins originally signed Correa to a three-year deal.

Now they are paying more, but he certainly makes Minnesota a contender.