{"id":224342,"date":"2025-08-04T09:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T09:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/224342\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T09:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T09:46:20","slug":"how-astros-owner-jim-crane-convinced-twins-to-trade-carlos-correa-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/224342\/","title":{"rendered":"How Astros owner Jim Crane convinced Twins to trade Carlos Correa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post How Astros owner Jim Crane convinced Twins to trade Carlos Correa<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was the spark that turned the 2025 MLB trade deadline on its head<\/a>: Carlos Correa<\/a>, once the face of the Minnesota Twins<\/a>, is back in Houston. But how exactly did the Astros convince the Twins to unload their franchise shortstop \u2014 and light the match on the most ruthless fire sale<\/a> in modern baseball memory?<\/p>\n

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It all started not in a boardroom, but on a golf course in Cooperstown. Astros owner Jim Crane was playing a round with Twins legend Joe Mauer during Hall of Fame weekend when he casually floated the idea of bringing Correa back to Houston. With the Twins deep in debt \u2014 reportedly $440 million \u2014 and quietly shopping the franchise for $1.7 billion, Crane sensed an opportunity. Correa\u2019s massive contract was a financial anchor. A reunion might not just be sentimental \u2014 it could make business sense.<\/p>\n

Crane returned to Houston and had GM Dana Brown place a call to Minnesota. The initial request? Correa and an outfielder \u2014 with the Twins covering half of the $103 million remaining on Correa\u2019s deal. The Twins laughed. Correa\u2019s agent, Scott Boras, laughed. Even Correa himself dismissed the rumors when reporters asked.<\/p>\n

Twins dump off their stars, Astros take advantage of a banging oppurtunity\"Brian<\/p>\n

Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

But Crane didn\u2019t back off. He doubled down, framing the deal not as a salary dump, but as a strategic move to make the team more appealing to potential buyers. The Twins, he argued, could better position themselves to sell if they cleared payroll \u2014 starting with Correa\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

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Minnesota, facing mounting financial pressure, blinked. According to reports, Correa sat down with Twins president of baseball ops Derek Falvey and agreed to waive his no-trade clause. The team ultimately agreed to eat $33 million of his remaining salary, spreading it out over the deal.<\/p>\n

Just like that, the Astros landed their former No. 1 overall pick and franchise shortstop for three-plus years at a bargain rate \u2014 roughly $70 million total. It was a masterclass in patience and persuasion by Crane, who had offered Correa $160 million back in 2021 before letting him walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim, we finally have a deal,\u201d Boras reportedly told Crane, capping a wild turnaround.<\/p>\n

Correa wasn\u2019t the only casualty of the Twins\u2019 stunning teardown. In a matter of hours, the club traded 10 active MLB players, including beloved hometown reliever Louie Varland and captain Carlos Santana. Minnesota even considered sending Correa\u2019s former teammate Christian Walker back in the deal but backed off due to financial concerns.<\/p>\n

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The backlash in Minnesota has been fierce \u2014 fans furious, bar promotions offering free drinks, and rival GMs stunned at how quickly the fire sale escalated. But for Houston, it\u2019s a win. They bring back a familiar face at a discount, and Correa gets a fresh start \u2014 and a $4.7 million tax break \u2014 in a no-income-tax state. In a deadline defined by chaos, it was Crane who saw the opportunity first \u2014 and pounced.<\/p>\n

Related: MLB rumors: Christian Walker was discussed in Astros, Twins\u2019 Carlos Correa trade talks<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Astros get ex-Dodgers 3rd-round pick in Marlins trade<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post How Astros owner Jim Crane convinced Twins to trade Carlos Correa appeared first on ClutchPoints. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2389],"tags":[42,5,3225,1717,100,139,54,3211,19277,5185,27591,60,4,3449,810],"class_list":{"0":"post-224342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-astros","8":"tag-astros","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-carlos-correa","11":"tag-carlos-santana","12":"tag-christian-walker","13":"tag-houston","14":"tag-houston-astros","15":"tag-houstonastros","16":"tag-jim-crane","17":"tag-joe-mauer","18":"tag-louie-varland","19":"tag-minnesota-twins","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-mlb-trade-deadline","22":"tag-scott-boras"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114969862968725067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}