Weekend BP: The latest Carlos Correa update

Happy weekend, San Francisco Giants fans. This weekend is not as fun as last weekend. Last weekend there was a chance that the Giants would sign Aaron Judge. This weekend there is no chance. Judge is a Yankee. The Giants did not get a rose. We move on with sadness.

And the person we move on to, for now, is shortstop Carlos Correa. Correa was ranked by Fangraphs as the No. 3 free agent on the market, behind only Judge and Trea Turner (who signed with the Philadelphia Phillies).

He’s an elite defensive player, having won a Gold Glove in 2021. He’s a strong offensive player, who was 16th in the Majors in wRC+ in 2022. And he’s younger than the average free agent (despite this being his second foray into free agency), as he only turned 28 in September.

The Giants interest in Correa has been well known for a while, as they tend to favor younger free agents, and signed Pete Putila, who has ties to Correa from their Houston Astros days, to their open GM position at the start of the season.

But according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Giants haven’t had very many formal contract discussions with Correa.

This doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Correa made it through the Winter Meanings without signing, which means we might be looking at weeks or even months before he has a new team. Remember, Freddie Freeman didn’t sign until more than a week after the lockout ended in Mid-March. We might know Correa’s fate in the next few days, but we also might not know until pitchers and catchers have reported. Furthermore, it may be that the Giants are currently focused on selling San Francisco to Correa, and negotiating years with his agent, Scott Boras, and they’ll save financial details for later down the road.

Unfortunately, Olney also reported that the Yankees are a team to watch with regards to Correa so ... that would be both the salt rim and the lime slice on the margarita that’s been poured into the Giants open wound this offseason.

There’s still a decent chance that the Giants end up with Correa, but we’re certainly closer to a reality where they strike out in the offseason where everyone expected them to make a huge move.