Detroit Tigers: Carlos Correa and what could have been

Reflecting on what could have been had the Detroit Tigers been able to land Carlos Correa

Early Wednesday morning, the New York Mets signed shortstop Carlos Correa to a megadeal—12 years, $315 million. It comes after he had originally signed with the San Francisco Giants, but they were concerned with the results of his physical, so they called the deal off.

It's still the largest free agent contract ever for a shortstop. It beats what the Detroit Tigers are rumored to have offered Correa last offseason in both money and length of contract.

There are two different offers the Detroit Tigers made to Correa that have been floated out there. The first is a 10-year, $275 million deal, and the other was an eight-year deal for the same amount of money. Personally, I thought the eight-year deal was a fair offer because it gave Correa an AAV of $34 million per year, which is pretty much right on par with the contract the New York Mets gave Francisco Lindor.

The other deal seemed fine in years, but the AAV drops a good bit. As it turns out, Correa was seeking a longer term deal after all. After seeing Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts both land 11-year deals, he sought to get something like that—and he did.

It really feels like the Tigers had a legitimate shot at landing Correa last year. Nobody else seemed as serious as the Tigers were. After he settled for a short-term deal with the Twins, it felt like a kick in the teeth.

If the Detroit Tigers had an owner that cared about the team, Correa would be on the team right now. There's nothing holding ownership back from signing a player of his caliber. Instead, we have Javier Baez.

Now, does Correa make much of a difference on the 2022 Tigers? Probably not. They may win two or three more games. But having Correa for the foreeable future instead of Baez would sure make myself and the fanbase as a whole feel better about the team's future.

If they have Correa instead if Baez to add to a potential core of Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Tarik Skubal, this team would have something to build around. Austin Meadows and Eric Haase would be great support pieces.

Scott Harris could have spent this offseason adding more support and some much-needed depth. A few low-cost free agent signings and some shrewd trades would do the trick in this scenario—exactly what he and Farhan Zaidi did in San Francisco.

But alas, the Detroit Tigers look like they're rebuilding again. Carlos Correa would have been a fantastic addition to this team. He played for the Twins for one year, then he signed with the Giants for a hot minute, now he's going to be a Met for the next 12 years. It's been a heck of a ride for Correa. It all could have been avoided had the Tigers been able to finish the job.