Correa Opportunities

 

So, just for comparison's sake:

San Francisco middle infield: Thairo Estrada's having his best season to date, while Casey Schmitt is giving a decent audition for shortstop once Brandon Crawford retires.

Mets middle infield: Lindor and McNeil are having ASG-caliber seasons, Luis Guillorme is a solid backup.

Minnesota middle infield: Jorge Polanco is hurt, Edouard Julien is a solid offensive 2nd baseman with no defense, Kyle Farmer's taking the majority of reps at 2nd but isn't quite there yet, Royce Lewis is exactly what the Twins want in a shortstop and has no playing time there, and Carlos Correa is barely much of a lynchpin for it all, with decent enough defensive numbers and a .212 average. 

It's...kinda odd that of all of these teams, it kinda looks like the one that got Carlos Correa was the one that needed him the least amount. Not that the Mets and Giants had complete gaping holes at short, they just had more moveable pieces. Right now, there's a #1 draft pick shortstop that is trying to succeed on the Twins, and it's not Carlos Correa. Royce Lewis is actually up and healthy, hitting .333 with 14 RBIs and 4 homers in 23 games, and the Twins are kinda shrugging and going 'well how about this other guy we signed for 6 years?' 

It's a move that's looking more and more hare-brained in hindsight. Not because of some unforeseeable medical issue that kept scaring the Giants and Mets, but because...2023 Carlos Correa is not 2017 Carlos Correa. Back then he was one of the best shortstops in baseball, was multi-faceted, could give you insane defense as well as superior contact hitting, and was just another piece of a very close-knit competitive team. Now that Correa's alone, without a lot of likeminded peers from the same farm system, he doesn't stand out as much. Or, moreover, he stands out even more when he's not doing well, which is right now. Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers, and the bulk of the pitching is all pulling their weight, and Correa was signed to be a marquee star that'd keep doing what made him a hero in 2022. And yet here we are. The magic's worn off. 

Or, y'know, it's tougher being on a team that doesn't cheat.

The Twins are barely hanging onto a thin lead over the Guardians, and could lose it as soon as tomorrow. If Correa was actually playing well, I don't know if it'd be that close. The Twins are certainly outpitching the competition, but this lineup pales in comparison to early incarnations, and has too many fall guys, including Correa. It may get better, and the Twins may still end up winning this division, but it's gonna take a lot of big pieces suddenly falling into place.

Coming Tomorrow- Guy's played for eight teams in the last decade, and he's just getting around to repeats.