Correa returning to Astros, this time to play 3B
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Alden Gonzalez
The Houston Astros reacquired Carlos Correa in a shocking blockbuster deal with the Minnesota Twins just before the MLB trade deadline Thursday.
Correa, a Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star in his prior stint with the Astros, waived his no-trade clause in order to make the deal happen. He has also agreed to play third base, sharing the left side of the infield with Jeremy Pena.
“I had some conversations with the front office in Minnesota, and we were not moving [the direction] I thought we were after making the playoffs [in 2023],” Correa told MLB.com on Thursday, “and they agreed with me that it was time to move me.
“I let them know there was only one team I would allow that to happen.”
The Astros went into the trade deadline prioritizing a left-handed hitter and a starter, but third baseman Isaac Paredes could miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury, prompting them to get aggressive in a trade for Correa. Moments later, their need for a left-handed hitter was also filled — in a deal to acquire outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the Miami Marlins.
Houston sent minor league left-hander Matt Mikulski to Minnesota in the Correa deal. The 26-year-old Mikulski, who most recently had been at Houston’s High-A affiliate in Asheville, has 245 strikeouts in 225 2/3 minor league innings.
The 30-year-old Correa is owed a combined $91.5 million from 2026 to 2028, with club options from 2029 to 2032, and sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney that the Twins, motivated to shed salary while in an ownership transition, will take on $33 million as part of the trade.
“This is a big move for the team, for the city, for where we’re going in the future,” Houston general manager Dana Brown said. “We feel like … he’s just going to bring a lot, not only as a player but as a human being — his leadership skills and the energy that he’s going to bring to this club. So I’m fired up.”
Miami’s return for Sanchez is right-hander Ryan Gusto, shortstop Chase Jaworsky — a top-10 prospect in Houston’s system — and outfielder Esmil Valencia.
A former No. 1 pick out of high school in Puerto Rico in 2012, Correa was one of the faces of an Astros team that won the World Series in 2017 and became the most successful American League franchise in recent years.
This year, though, Correa’s numbers are down. He is slashing .267/.319/.386 with seven home runs in 93 games.
This will be his first time playing third base in the majors, but he told MLB.com it’s something he had been looking forward to.
“I’ve been wanting to play third base for the past couple of years, but it wasn’t happening in Minnesota,” Correa said. “We were waiting for a shortstop to come in, and now that I get to play third base it would be great for me at this stage of my career.”
Sanchez, 27, has slashed .246/.312/.432 with 69 homers and 29 steals in 522 games with the Marlins from 2021 to 2025, during which he played mostly right field. He is controllable through 2027.
Brown said the Astros also pursued pitching but that the focus was improving their slumping offense since injured starters Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia are all close to returning.
“The asking prices for the arms seem to be pretty high,” Brown said. “And knowing that we had some arms coming back, we stuck with the bats and these bats, we feel like are going to make a pretty good impact on our offense, help us score some runs and win some games.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Toronto Blue Jays became the first American League team to secure a spot in the postseason on Sunday with an 8-5 victory against the Kansas City Royals.
The AL-best and AL East-leading Blue Jays locked up a playoff spot with a week remaining in the regular season after a less-than-stellar start of 16-20 in early May and trailing by as many as eight games in the division in late May.
“I remember back when we were in Tampa in May, we weren’t playing very well and we got swept there,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think these guys did a great job of rallying around each other, but the turning point was really when we came out of Tampa and went into the Texas series.”
This is Toronto’s third playoff berth in four years and fourth in six seasons. They missed the postseason in 2021 and 2024. Playoff success has been elusive for the Blue Jays, who haven’t won a postseason game since 2016. And, unlike the past three trips, they hope this year they won’t have to play in the AL wild-card round as they try to win their first division title since 2015 as they close out the regular season with a six-game homestand against Boston and Tampa Bay.
“You could feel it with this group in spring training,” Schneider said. “I know that sounds really cliché, but when you get a group of men that are committed to the same goal, you can do things like this.”
The Blue Jays’ 90-66 record is tops in the AL and they lead their division by 2½ games over the New York Yankees. If Toronto wins the AL East and has one of the two best records in the league, it will advance to the AL Divisional Series, which starts Oct. 4.
The last time Toronto made it that far was nine years ago.
“I’m just so happy for them,” Schneider said. “It’s hard at this level for everyone to put their egos aside and to play for one another. It’s so cool to see these guys completely happy for one another when they get the job done no matter who it is. This is the most fulfilling team I’ve ever been a part of with different characters, different skill sets, guys coming together for one common goal which is what’s important now. This is something you always celebrate.”
The Blue Jays are trying to win their first World Series since 1993.
“Today we go back to the postseason, but the journey is not over yet,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said. “We still want to win the division over the next six games. Since spring training, everyone has been together and when you see a team like that you start believing.”
Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak with Sunday’s win, and after the game popped champagne in the visitors clubhouse in Kansas City.
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