Carlos Correa spurns Giants for Mets! What happened, what it means for both teams and what’s next
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Jeff PassanESPN
In a stunning turn of events, free agent Carlos Correa is headed to the New York Mets — and not the San Francisco Giants.
The 28-year-old shortstop agreed to terms on a 12-year, $315 million deal with New York — a week after coming to terms with the Giants on a historic 13-year, $350 million contract.
How did this extraordinary change of course take place? What went wrong between the Correa and the Giants? And has anything like this ever happened in MLB free agency? Here’s everything you need to know about the shocking switch and what this means for Correa, the Mets, the Giants and beyond.
Wait … what happened?!
The Giants’ contract with the star shortstop fell apart after the team expressed concerns during the physical examination, prompting Correa to reopen his free agency and sign in the middle of the night with the Mets.
Before Correa agreed to terms with the Giants, the Mets had made an 11th-hour run at signing him. The deal did not come to fruition then. A week later, the most astonishing move of the offseason is one passed physical from becoming a reality (a caveat with particular import to this contract).
It’s a staggering outcome that continues to reshape the baseball landscape this offseason — and would make the Mets the most expensive team in North American sports history.
Didn’t the Mets already spend a whole bunch of money this offseason? And don’t they already have a shortstop?!
Sure do. Last year, Mets owner Steve Cohen signed Francisco Lindor to a 10-year, $341 million deal after trading for the star shortstop in 2020. Correa is expected to move to third base in New York to play alongside his friend and Team Puerto Rico teammate Lindor.
And speaking of Steve Cohen … when Cohen bought the Mets in November 2020, there was a belief around baseball that he could upend the system with his wealth. But this exceeds the expectations of even the most hopeful Mets fan. If Correa’s deal is completed, the team’s estimated payroll will be around $384 million. Based on that number, the Mets would owe an additional $111 million in luxury tax payments. Their total payroll, as of now, is expected to be just shy of $500 million. In baseball history, no team has come within $150 million of that number.
Just this offseason, the Mets are adding Correa to a list of signings that includes starters Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana along with the re-signings of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and relievers Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino. Add in catcher Omar Narvaez and reliever David Robertson, and the Mets’ total outlay this winter is $806.1 million.
Correa had “agreed to terms” with the Giants. What does that phrase actually mean in free agency?
When a player and team agree to terms, they strike a deal on contract details: years, dollars, performance bonuses, opt-outs, no-trade clauses and other financial levers. A team sends a term sheet to a player, and the player signs it. But that agreed-upon contract is not official until a player passes a medical examination, which includes an MRI, blood work and other general health tests. While it’s rare, teams do occasionally flag a player’s medicals, which allows for two outcomes: a renegotiation of the deal or it being scrapped altogether. Here, the latter occurred.
Were other teams still allowed to talk with Correa? When could the Mets have started renegotiating?
This is something of a gray area. Technically, when the physical process starts, the deal is out of a player’s hands. Two scenarios can squelch it: the team failing the player on the physical, or Major League Baseball declining to approve the contract. Players and agents do not continue talking with other teams, post-agreement, because they don’t want to suggest the deal is in jeopardy, lest it be pulled off the table, and the agent does not want to earn a reputation as someone who renounces agreements for no good reason. Would that run afoul of the rules, though? That’s unclear; no player is known to have tried.
What’s obvious is that the Giants’ concerns were serious enough that Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, worried the deal with San Francisco was in peril, and the negotiations with the Mets resumed Tuesday and accelerated rapidly.
Do we know what the Giants saw in Correa’s physical? And should the Mets be concerned?
The specific nature of the Giants’ concerns with Correa is unclear. But with a deal as long and lucrative as the one to which he had agreed, any team approaches a physical with greater rigor.
As for the Mets: Every team has different thresholds for giving a thumbs-up on players’ medicals. But, after the events of the past 24 hours, it’s extremely unlikely that Correa would come to terms with the Mets without the team indicating that it expected to pass him and make the deal official.
Has anything like this ever happened in MLB before?
Nothing of this magnitude, no.
Differences of opinions on medical information aren’t infrequent, but they tend to be more with draft-eligible players. Perhaps the most famous is right-hander Kumar Rocker, who went to the Mets with the 10th pick of the 2021 draft. They had agreed on a $6 million deal before the draft, but the Mets did not offer him a contract. Rocker was taken third overall by the Texas Rangers in the 2022 draft and signed for $5.2 million.
The closest analog to Correa in the last decade is Grant Balfour, the veteran reliever who agreed to a two-year, $15 million deal with Baltimore in 2013. The Orioles — who were widely seen throughout the industry as having the most difficult-to-pass medical process — failed Balfour. He eventually signed with Tampa Bay for two years and $12 million.
What can the Giants do from here?
Unfortunately for them, there’s not much left to do. They went hard after Aaron Judge, only to see him re-sign with the New York Yankees. They then poached the best player left in free agency, Correa — only for this to happen.
The best free agent still available is 32-year-old right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, but the Giants already have seven starting pitchers. The best position player left is outfielder Michael Conforto, who didn’t play last season with a shoulder injury.
The real answer: Even after signing outfielders Mitch Haniger and Joc Pederson as well as starters Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea, this is likely to end up a lost offseason for the Giants, who went into the winter hoping to land a franchise player and will likely exit it empty-handed.
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Jake Trotter, ESPN Senior Writer
Penn State junior standout running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton both announced Monday that they will be returning to the Nittany Lions for the 2025 season.
“We still have goals we want to reach as a team, and I want to be alongside my teammates as we reach those goals,” Singleton wrote in his announcement.
Allen, meanwhile, said that “it’s clear that we still have a lot more to accomplish.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had ranked Allen and Singleton as the Nos. 5 and 6 running backs available in the upcoming NFL draft.
This past season, the two teamed up to give Penn State one of college football’s top rushing duos — Allen rushed for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 5.0 yards per carry; Singleton rushed for 1,099 yards with 12 touchdowns and ranked fourth in the Big Ten with 6.4 yards per carry.
Singleton also led Big Ten running backs with 375 receiving yards on 41 receptions.
Singleton ran for three touchdowns in Penn State’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals Thursday. Allen rushed for 134 yards in the Nittany Lions’ quarterfinal victory over Boise State on Dec. 31.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar previously announced he was coming back. With Allen and Singleton joining him, the Nittany Lions will enter next season with one of the country’s most prolific and experienced backfields.
Quarterback Carson Beck‘s college career might not be over yet.
The Georgia starter came into this past season as one of the top-rated passers available for the 2025 NFL draft, and an early favorite to go No. 1 overall. But after a season in which he threw nine interceptions during a four-game stretch (and three more in a 41-34 loss at Alabama) and struggled mightily in other games, his draft stock fell sharply.
Making matters worse, Beck was injured on the final play of the first half in Georgia’s 22-19 overtime victory against Texas in the Dec. 7 SEC championship game. Beck had season-ending surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right, throwing elbow on Dec. 23. Five days later, he announced he was entering the NFL draft.
Then on Thursday, Beck entered the transfer portal. On Friday, Beck committed to Miami, where he’ll replace record-setting QB Cam Ward. Due to his injury, Beck, however, isn’t expected to resume throwing until sometime this spring. — Mark Schlabach
Why is he heading to Miami?
There were lots of rumors linking Beck to Miami back in December, which he briefly put to rest when he declared for the draft. But just as they did last year with Cam Ward, Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes stayed patient and eventually won out for one of the top quarterbacks in the portal.
Ward was worth every penny with the remarkable season he put together in 2024 and the leadership he brought to the program. He seriously boosted his NFL draft stock as a result of his 2024 season and could end up being the No. 1 overall pick. If you’re Beck, that’s the goal in coming back for an extra season. Miami won’t have the same supporting cast of playmakers back for 2025, but they had a lot to sell as Beck’s ideal destination.
Beck won a lot of games with the Bulldogs but never got an opportunity to start in a College Football Playoff game. Two November losses knocked Miami out of the ACC title game and the 12-team CFP this season. Both sides are highly motivated to make the most of 2025, and Beck’s arrival will once again mean big preseason expectations for this program. It’s fair to call this another playoff-or-bust season for Cristobal and the Canes. — Max Olson
What’s next for Georgia?
Beck’s replacement, third-year sophomore Gunner Stockton, played well enough in the second half of the SEC championship game and in a 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Allstate Sugar Bowl that he’ll likely go into spring practice as the favorite to replace Beck.
Stockton, one of the most productive quarterbacks in Georgia high school history, led the Bulldogs back from a 6-3 deficit in the second half to defeat Texas in Atlanta. In his first college start, he completed 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against a very good Notre Dame defense.
Stockton should improve with a full offseason to prepare as the starter. He’ll have to hold off freshman Ryan Puglisi, the No. 9 pocket passer in the class of 2024, according to ESPN. The Bulldogs signed two quarterbacks in their most recent recruiting class: Ryan Montgomery of Findlay, Ohio, and Hezekiah Millender of Athens, Georgia.
The Bulldogs might still bring in another experienced quarterback from the portal. They were linked to former Alabama backup Dylan Lonergan and Cal starter Fernando Mendoza before those two signed with Boston College and Indiana, respectively. — Schlabach
Did Beck fall out of favor with NFL scouts?
After entering the season as a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in 2025, Beck didn’t live up to expectations, finishing with solid statistics — 28 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and 3,485 yards — but up-and-down performances. He had three games at midseason in which he threw a combined eight picks, which raised eyebrows among NFL scouts. I dropped him in my rankings to the No. 5 quarterback in the 2025 class.
Speaking to evaluators in the league, Beck’s draft grades were all over the place, as some thought he would go in Round 2, while others thought he could go as low as Round 5. After his announcement that he was declaring for the draft, one scout said: “I was surprised.”
At Miami, Beck should have an opportunity to recapture his 2023 form, when he threw just six interceptions. Drew Allar (Penn State) is the early headliner of the 2026 class, and Beck needs a big season to get back into the Round 1 discussion. — Jordan Reid
What’s the latest with Beck’s injury?
On the day of Beck’s surgery, a Georgia statement indicated the procedure was successful, and he was expected to begin throwing again in the spring. Not much else — about the severity of the injury or his recovery time — is publicly known.
According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, UCL injuries are common among gymnasts, wrestlers, football players and baseball pitchers. The length of Beck’s recovery would depend on whether he partially or completely tore the ligament and where it was torn (proximal, distal or mid-substance).
“For patients who have full thickness tears and need to return to high demand throwing type activities, surgery may be considered,” the Mayo Clinic website says. “Surgery typically entails either a repair (fixing your current ligament by sewing and anchoring it back down to the bone) or reconstruction (replacing your injured ligament) of the UCL.”
Beck wouldn’t be the first quarterback to come back from UCL surgery. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy injured the UCL in his right, throwing elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 29, 2023. He had surgery to repair his UCL on March 10, 2023, and returned to throwing less than three months later. He started the 49ers’ opener on Sept. 10, 2023.
The Mayo Clinic website said athletes who experience UCL injuries have a 95-100% return rate to athletics for non-throwers and 85-95% for throwers. — Schlabach
What are the rules about entering the portal after declaring for the draft?
Beck announced his intentions of entering the NFL draft, but he has until Feb. 7 to remove his name from the draft by sending an opt-out letter to the league office.
College football players whose teams’ seasons had already ended had until Jan. 6 to declare for the draft. Players on teams that are still competing in the CFP (Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas) have until Jan. 27 to decide whether to leave their names in the draft. — Schlabach
Former LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy, accused of causing a crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities, turned himself in to authorities Sunday night, was jailed and then released on $151,000 bail, according to police records.
Lafourche (Louisiana) Parish Sheriff’s Office records indicate that Lacy was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle.
A warrant had been issued for Lacy’s arrest, and police on Friday said they had been in contact with Lacy and his attorney to turn himself in.
According to a news release from Louisiana State Police on Friday, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”
“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.
“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”
Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”
Herman Hall, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police. Hall was 78.
The drivers of the Cadenza and Sorento also sustained moderate injuries, according to police.
Lacy’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, said in a statement that his client is “fully cooperating with the authorities.”
Lacy played two seasons at Louisiana before transferring to LSU in 2022. This past season, he had 58 catches for 866 yards with nine touchdowns and declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.
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