Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Last season the Minnesota Twins made a boatload of moves at the trade deadline. Fueled by ownership’s desire to shed payroll, Derek Falvey put a for sale sign at Target Field and was willing to deal anything with a pulse.
While some of the moves came with respectable returns, dealing Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros was nothing more than a salary dump. His former employer came calling, and he wanted to go home. However, it’s a bit wild they took on such a gaudy contract.
Houston Astros swallowing Carlos Correa money
When the Minnesota Twins signed Carlos Correa, a second time, they were the third option for the once-impressive shortstop. His play has tanked in recent seasons, and self-inflicted injuries have also been part of the problem. Now with the Astros, The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen notes his contract as among the worst in baseball.
Correa is guaranteed $96 million over the next three years. He’s still a somewhat productive player, but he’s a far cry from matching the $32.83 million he is set to make next season. For all Correa’s qualities, both tangible and intangible, it was puzzling to see the Astros trade at last year’s deadline to take on a contract that already seems underwater.
Minnesota is on the hook for $33 million over the next three seasons, but Correa is still being compensated handsomely by the Astros. Although he has since moved to the hot corner, and Houston got a fan-favorite back, it’s hard to argue in favor of his value.
Last year with the Twins Correa owned just a 94 OPS+ and he grounded into 19 double plays while his already lacking speed has fallen off a cliff. It wasn’t the 30 GIDP he had in 2023, but he looks nothing like the All-Star he was in 2024.
Welcome home, Carlos Correa 👏
His first home game since being reacquired by the @Astros! pic.twitter.com/Yt8FylcnaT
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2025
His 2.6 fWAR from last season still suggests he is a well above-average player, but that’s hardly the superstar threshold he was paid to perform as. FanGraphs valued Correa’s output last year at just $20.9 million, and even as an All-Star in 2024 he checked in at just $33.7 million.
Correa will make approximately $32 million each of the next three seasons. There’s almost no way he provides that amount of value to Houston, and at 31 with a growing injury history, it’s possible the deals becomes a boat anchor pretty quickly.
It was unfortunate to see Correa jump at the first opportunity to leave a situation he helped to create. That said, Minnesota is definitely better off not allocating underwater funds to an already depreciated asset.
Mentioned in this article: Carlos Correa
More About: Minnesota Twins
Add MinnesotaSportsFan as a preferred source on Google.