MLB Rumors: New Leader Revealed In Carlos Correa Sweepstakes

As baseball's Winter Meetings have concluded, there are still some teams who are looking for that free agent All-Star splashy move. For the San Francisco Giants, it's not for lack of trying. Their whopping $360M offer to Aaron Judge was matched by the New York Yankees and the slugger returned to Broadway.

But the Giants have $300M+ burning a hole in their pocket, and they're determined to spend it. This fact, plus the inherent need for a middle infielder and a productive bat in the middle of the order, makes them the favorite for shortstop Carlos Correa.

At least, that's according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. She reported that the Giants have spoken face-to-face with Correa's reps this week.

In addition to losing out on hometown kid Judge, the Giants also watched as Trea Turner went to the Philadelphia Phillies, and San Fran's division rival San Diego Padres continued to add All-Star power to their lineup, dropping an insane $280M dollars on shortstop Xander Bogaerts. That was about $100M more than his old team, the Boston Red Sox, offered.

The Giants now can see what the market looks like, and they know they'll have to spend crazy money to land Correa, who just turned 28 and has a career .836 OPS and .279 average, along with two All-Star selections.

yeah giants getting anything less than correa now is a COLOSSAL failure by the FO. they basically gotta let correa get whatever he wants. can’t go into the season with the embarrassment of missing out on Judge + Padres getting even better.
— alex 🦖 (@xanderknowsball) December 8, 2022

The Minnesota Twins are trying desperately to bring Correa back, after he spent one year of a three-year deal in the Twin Cities before opting out looking for the big payout that this offseason will bring.

The Chicago Cubs are also thought to be hot on Correa's trail.

The Cubs FO cannot come away empty handed in this shortstop market. It would be a complete failure for the Cubs not to get Correa or Swanson.
— Hot Stove Cubbies (@HotStoveCubbies) December 8, 2022