SF Giants reportedly lose Carlos Correa over medical issue

For a week, the SF Giants have been feeling set at one of the main positions on the field after coming to an agreement with star shortstop Carlos Correa on a 13-year, $350 million contract.

As is the case with any deal, the usual line of "pending physical" applied, but the vast majority of the time that's just a formality and the player passes and signs.

Not this time, apparently.

Early Wednesday morning on the East Coast/late Tuesday night on the West Coast, MLB Network insider and New York Post columnist Jon Heyman broke stunning news on Twitter: Correa and the New York Mets reportedly have come to an agreement where Correa will earn $315 million over 12 years.

SF Giants were supposed to introduce Correa Tuesday morning

If this is the first media you're consuming since Monday night, you might be in shock. The Giants had planned a press conference for Tuesday at 11 AM to officially introduce the newest face of the franchise, but just hours before it was scheduled to begin they postponed it, according to Alex Pavlovic, the team beat writer from NBC Sports Bay Area.

Reports shortly trickled out that the Giants had discovered a "medical concern" in Correa's physical and decided to wait on the big announcement.

The day went on without any further news about the issue until Heyman's bombshell long after most people had gone to bed. His news was likely met with some skepticism from those still awake, considering his blunder in announcing Aaron Judge to the Giants just two weeks ago (and misspelling Judge's first name "Arson" at first), but the Correa news was confirmed by SF Chronicle's Giants writer, Susan Slusser, shortly after Heyman tweeted.

Slusser, in her confirmation, included a tidbit about a disagreement in the medicals. Supposedly the Giants brought up an issue but doctors did not agree, causing the deal to fall apart.

Pavlovic added the Giants "had concerns about Correa's back" earlier in the off-season.

Correa has dealt with injury issues throughout his career, playing over 140 games just twice in six full seasons (though he appeared in 58 of 60 contests in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign).

Many probably assumed the hold-up was just a pause to work another deal or get a second opinion, but it's possible the Giants were shunned by Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, after raising the issue. Boras "often does not renegotiate on medicals" according to Baseball Prospectus senior prospect writer Jarrett Seidler.

The Giants will now likely keep Brandon Crawford as their starting shortstop and have to find alternate depth options for their infield, as the other big names have signed with teams.