AP source: Correa agrees to $105.3M, 3-year deal with Twins

NEW YORK (AP) — Star shortstop Carlos Correa agreed early Saturday to a $105.3 million, three-year contract with the Minnesota Twins, ending his seven-season tenure with the Houston Astros, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.

Correa will earn $35.3 million annually under the deal and can opt out after the 2022 and 2023 seasons to become a free agent again. His average salary becomes baseball’s fourth-highest behind New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer ($43.3 million), Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole ($36 million) and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout ($35.5 million).

A two-time All-Star who was the first overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, Correa led the turnaround of the Astros. Houston lost more than 100 games each year from 2011-13, then won its first World Series title by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games in 2017.

The Astros went on to AL pennants and World Series losses in 2019 and last year, gaining infamy for their cheating scandal that was revealed after the 2019 season.

Correa had a career-best 26 home runs to go along with a .279 batting average and 92 RBIs last year. He has a .277 average with 133 homers and 489 RBIs in seven major league seasons.

Combined with Nick Castellanos’ $100 million, five-year agreement with Philadelphia late Friday night, Correa’s deal was the 14th since the World Series of nine figures.

Six of those were negotiated by agent Scott Boras, at a total of $1.0173 billion. In addition to agreements for Correa and Castellanos, he negotiated contracts for Corey Seager ($325 million) and Marcus Semien ($175 million) with Texas, Kris Bryant with Colorado ($182 million) and Scherzer with the New York Mets ($130 million).

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