MINNEAPOLIS — In a different world, shortstop Carlos Correa might be hitting for the Detroit Tigers this week at Target Field.
After all, the Tigers checked his boxes.
“Obviously, A.J. (Hinch) and the young talent they have,” Correa said Wednesday. “They have a great organization over there. They want to win. They’ve won before. I’ve seen the ballpark when they have winning seasons, and it’s packed. It’s a great organization.”
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But Correa — the talk of the Tigers’ offseason — ended up with the Minnesota Twins. Correa, one of five premier shortstops on the free-agent market, signed a three-year, $105.3 million contract with the Twins on March 19, nine days after MLB’s lockout and transaction freeze ended. The 27-year-old has a pair of player options cemented into his pact, meaning he can re-enter the free-agent pool after the 2022, 2023 or 2024 seasons.
In November, Correa considered signing with the Tigers.
“Of course, of course I thought about that,” Correa said. “When there’s offers on the table, you consider every possibility. But destiny had me coming here, so here is where I am. I’m very happy with this group. I’m very excited for the season with them and can’t wait.”
The Tigers offered Correa a 10-year, $275 million contract.
He rejected it.
“It’s just part of the business,” Correa said. “That’s what it is, just straight up business.”
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Not long after, the Tigers signed two-time All-Star shortstop Javier Báez to a six-year, $140 million contract. The Báez deal became official Dec. 1, one day before MLB’s lockout began due to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
The Tigers negotiated with all five elite shortstops during free agency: Correa, Baez, Corey Seager (10 years, $325 million to Texas Rangers), Marcus Semien (seven years, $175 million to Rangers) and Trevor Story (six years, $140 million to Boston Red Sox).
Seager, Semien and Báez signed before the lockout.
Correa and Story waited until the lockout was lifted.
“You can’t predict those kinds of things,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said March 19 about Correa joining the Twins. “At the end of the day, when we got Javy Báez, we were very happy, and we’re still happy with that.”
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The energy between the Tigers and Correa appeared to reach its climax Nov. 18, when Hinch — Detroit’s manager since 2021 — and Correa were spotted together having breakfast at the Tiny Boxwoods restaurant in Houston, where Hinch lives in the offseason.
Four days later, Hinch confirmed he ordered a ham and cheese omelet (but didn’t stay for lunch) and delivered a baby gift for Correa’s family. Correa and his wife, Daniella, were about to welcome their first child.
Their son was born Nov. 29.
“Just catching up, just talking business,” Correa said. “We talked about our families and (talked) on a personal basis, also. A.J. and I are friends. It’s not like it’s only a professional relationship. We care about each other.”
The relationship between Hinch and Correa goes back to Correa’s previous team, the Houston Astros. They spent five years together with the Astros, earning four postseason appearances and winning the 2017 World Series.
“He’s a great manager,” Correa said. “He’s one of the greats out there. He’s a great communicator. … He’s a guy that I look up to. He’s a very smart man, a great person, a great father. That’s a person I respect a lot.”
The Tigers, though, refused to offer Correa — or any player — a guaranteed $300 million contract. Before the lockout, Correa’s asking price was thought to be at least $300 million over 10 years.
In January, Correa switched his agent, from Jon Rosen of WME to Scott Boras of the Boras Corporation. Two months later, once the lockout ceased, Boras finalized his negotiations for Correa’s three-year contract with the Twins.
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Now, Correa is a foe of the Tigers in the American League Central.
“I wasn’t aware of his whole market,” Hinch said Wednesday. “It doesn’t surprise me that he picked a team where he feels like he can be a difference-maker. Carlos has been on a winning team for a number of years in a row now.
“He’s a center force on any team that he would have joined. It wouldn’t have mattered if it would have already been a winning team or a team he’s trying to build into a winner, Carlos will find a way to be a difference-maker.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.