Free Agent Poll: Carlos Correa

We used this idea last year, The idea is to go through some of the top free agents, use the contract FanGraphs suggests they will get and have a poll asking if we would like to sign him for that amount.

Both Keith Law and Ben Clemens have Carlos Correa as the top free agent of this off-season.

Law said:

He has shown the ability to hit all kinds of pitching — velocity, offspeed stuff, right- and left-handers, pretty much anywhere in the strike zone, too. He has a plus arm and ranges well to his right, with less range the other way, but he has defied predictions (including my own) that he’d outgrow the position so far, and he’s probably not going to move off short until his 30s, if then.

Law suggests he could get a 10-year deal. That seems like a long time but he is only 27, next year, and put up a 5.8 fWAR.

Ben says:

Correa has one main question mark: health. He’s only put together two 600 PA seasons in his career, though he also played the whole year in 2020. That aside, what’s not to like? He’s a tremendous hitter, combining a plus hit tool with easy power. That works out to a batting line 25% or so better than average, with upside for more. He’s also improved his fielding, which was once a question; the eye test and advanced metrics agree that he’s an above-average defender, and he emphasized that improvement this postseason with a flurry of great plays.

Ben suggests a 9-year contract, averaging $33 million a year. The Jays haven’t been big fans of contracts that long.

Correa hit .289/.366/.485 with 26 home runs this year. He’s had 3 seasons with fWAR values over 5 in his 7-year career. Like Ben says he has had some injury troubles in his career. I don’t know if that would improve as he moves into his 30s.

I guess there is a question of whether he or Bo Bichette would be willing to move to second base.