Um….What? We all went to bed Tuesday night with Carlos Correa as a member of the San Francisco Giants and yet we woke up Wednesday and he’s a New York Met. What? How bad could that physical have been for the Giants to back out of the $350 million deal they’d agreed to just a week prior? This is definitely a shocking turn of events for both Giants fans and Mets fans, and really all of baseball, alike. Is there any change to Correa’s fantasy value with this switch in teams and where do both teams go from here? Let’s start diving into the numbers shall we?

What is Carlos Correa’s fantasy baseball value in 2023 and beyond?

As we stated when Correa was going to San Fran, he’s been a very consistent hitter throughout this eight-year career to this point. He’s hit .279 for his career and hit exactly that mark three times thus far in individual seasons. If we take out the shortened 2020 season, he’s hit between 20-26 homers every full season of his career. That’s pretty consistent. He’s also proven to be pretty immune to home environment after putting up practically the same numbers in Minnesota last year. That’s good news for the Mets as they’re park is pretty neutral as are most of the NL East parks outside of Philadelphia. The biggest value that Correa has going into 2023 is his ability to gain third base eligibility as that’s where he’ll play in New York. The Mets have Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Jeff McNeil at second base so Correa will start over Eduardo Escobar at the hot corner. Given how bad third base is after the top handful of options, this improves Correa’s value over a crowded and deep shortstop eligibility. Correa is also on a better offense now with this signing than he was in San Francisco which adds to his run-production ability. If you have Correa in a dynasty league you have to be happier with this signing than the one in San Fran given the better environment all around and the added position eligibility which could sneak him into top-five 3B territory for the foreseeable future.

 

How does the Carlos Correa signing impact the New York Mets?

When does the spending stop? Seriously. Just look at this tweet from Jeff Passan highlighting the deals this offseason:

So how is all this spending and the Correa signing going to help them? Well Correa is likely an upgrade offensively over Escobar and gives them flexibility when building the order as they can hit Correa anywhere from 2-6 in the order. However, are we sure he’s going to pick up the hot corner easily in a market like New York where the pressure to win is immediate? Just ask Alex Rodriguez about that. There’s more to this signing though. Let’s not forget the Mets have a few impressive bats coming up through the system including Brett Baty at third base who’s a prized prospect of theirs. What happens to him at this point with no clear landing spot other than perhaps outfield. Does he become trade bait in the Mets rumored pursuit of Liam Hendricks? Is he packaged with another prospect and/or major-leaguer to land another big bat later in the season or at the deadline? This signing gives the Mets flexibility to make moves to help the MLB roster.

How does Carlos Correa impact the San Francisco Giants?

There are mixed opinions from the fans so far as to if they like the fall out or not. Most of it settles on being happy to not have a 13-year deal on their books but upset to have missed out on the key free agents that were left at the original time of the signing. This is likely to be another year of plodding along for the Giants as they wait for their incoming prospects to get closer to the majors. They have a few top hitting prospects coming between Marco Luciano at shortstop and Luis Matos in the outfield as well as a few other quality players who aren’t as highly ranked. While it’s disappointing for their fan base to be sure, it still gives them plenty of financial flexibility for the next two free agent classes which are also likely to be loaded with key players as well.

 

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