This White Sox division rival lands the MLB’s top free agent at 1AM
Sometimes, life throws you a curveball. That happens even as a baseball fan with no pun intended. At 1 AM on (technically) an early Saturday morning, it came out that the biggest free agent out there this winter has signed with the biggest Chicago White Sox division rival in the Minnesota Twins. That is a complete stunner.
Carlos Correa is going to the Minnesota Twins on a three-year deal that has opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. It is a deal that will pay him 35.1 million in each of the first three seasons. That is a lot of money for one of the very best players in the world.
To be honest, this is horrid news. The Twins have a lot of work to do in order to compete in the American League but adding this gem is going to really help them. He has shown time and time again that he can do it all in the biggest moments.
The Twins traded Josh Donaldson away earlier last week and then used that money wisely. This is a team that could have the ability to score some runs going forward. Now, instead of being on the Houston Astros (which was bad enough already), he is on a team in the division.
The Chicago White Sox is going to see a lot of Carlos Correa in 2022.
The White Sox needs to react. They literally can’t just sit there and be the only contender in the American League that doesn’t make a splash while the teams below them try to climb up. Correa makes the Twins a significantly better team than the one that surprisingly came in last place in 2021.
Correa has some very good numbers at Target Field as well. His OPS there over the course of his career is sitting at a col 1.200. The White Sox are going to have a tough time containing him when they go up there for a visit based on those numbers.
Nobody expected this. The New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, and a few other teams seemed like better destinations throughout the offseason but the Minnesota Twins were never mentioned.
If you are looking for a positive spin, there are two. The first is that the last-place Minnesota Twins aren’t all of the sudden better than the White Sox because of one player. It is a great start but the edge still goes to the Sox.
The second is that he leaves the Houston Astros who are a threat. They continue to slowly lose the stars that helped them win the World Series in 2017 to free agency. They will still be great but this will hurt them a lot. Hopefully, the White Sox are able to still play elite ball and continue building their team the right way.