Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa is about to become a free agent, and if his recent comments are any indication, it seems highly likely that his days in Houston are about to be over.
“‘Take it or leave it, this is what we’ve got,'” Correa told NBC Sports about the Astros’ last offer to him. “And now my value has gone up. If they didn’t want to meet my price in spring training, now that I led the league in WAR at 7.2 and I’m in the playoffs helping the team, I don’t know if they’ll meet my price now.”
Correa also said he “loved” the East Coast discussed the possibility of joining the Mets or Yankees, but was coy about which New York team he might prefer.
In a separate interview, after mentioning the “stripes” of the New York teams, Correa pointed out that he didn’t specify what kind of stripes.
“I didn’t say dark blue or blue and orange,” Correa said in Spanish during an appearance on the La Garata podcast, adding that “whichever blue” could work.
Correa, 27, also talked to NBC Sports about the potential of getting a 10-year contract.
“A lot of people don’t believe in 10-year contracts and in long-term deals and all that,” Correa said. “But when you look at most of the 10-year contracts they’ve been giving out, the long-term deals, they’re players that are 31, 30, 32. I’m going to be 27 on my first year. I’m young, I’m healthy, and I perform. So we’ll see what happens.”
Correa will be attached to a qualifying offer this offseason, meaning any team (aside from the Astros) that signs him will have to give up a draft pick.
For the Mets, they would have to surrender the No. 14 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
The Yankees would have to give up their first pick in the second round of the draft.