Carlos Correa reportedly has no plans to sign a long-term contract with Astros yet
Carlos Correa's agent said his client is 'never going to do an (early) multiyear contract'
By
Mike Axisa
•
3 min read
At 6-4, the Houston Astros currently sit atop the AL West, tied with the Los Angeles Angels for first place in the super early going. The 'Stros have won three of their last four games and seem to be trending in the right direction.
The Astros are where they are despite a relatively slow start to the season by star shortstop Carlos Correa. He's hitting .282/.341/.359 (108 OPS+) with one home run through 10 games. The average and on-base percentage are nice, but Correa's power hasn't made the trip north from spring training yet. It'll come soon enough. He'll be fine.
It stands to reason that at some point in the near future, perhaps even this year, the Astros will look to sign Correa to a long-term contract extension. He is their franchise cornerstone and they want to keep him in Houston as long as possible. Agent Greg Genske says a long-term deal won't happen just yet, however. Here's what Genske told Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports:
"Carlos is never going to do an (early) multiyear contract," agent Greg Genske said.
...
Speaking of Correa, a friend says, "His mentality has always been that he's going to play it out."
The Astros and their fans can't like hearing that. They want Correa to be a career Astro a la Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. He's the player who is supposed to help bring this franchise its first ever World Series championship.
Now, despite what Genske says, there are two things to keep in mind here. One: Correa can change his mind at any moment. He might be feeling a little slighted right now after the Astros renewed his contract at the league minimum over the winter -- the two sides failed to agree to terms on a 2017 contract, so the Astros invoked their right to pay him whatever they want (they aren't the only team to do that) -- so he's unwilling to talk. Perhaps he'll feel differently in a few weeks or months.
And two: Correa is not close to qualifying for free agency. He was called up midway through the 2015 season, and as a result, he can not become a free agent until after the 2021 season. This isn't an urgent situation. The Astros know they have Correa for another four seasons beyond this one, so there's plenty of time to convince him to sign a long-term extension. They can afford to be patient.
What would a long-term contract for Correa look like right now? The Astros surely would want to buy out some free agent years, meaning the contract would have to extend beyond 2021, either with guaranteed years or club options. Here are some recent extensions for players at a similar service time level as Correa:
- Christian Yelich, Marlins: Seven years, $49.75 million with one club option.
- Andrelton Simmons, then with the Braves: Seven years, $58 million with no options.
- Anthony Rizzo, Cubs: Seven years, $41 million with two club options.
The Astros could put a seven-year deal worth, say, $65 million guaranteed in front of Correa right now, though I'm not sure how well that'd work. He and Genske may already be asking for a $100 million contract, and hey, I don't blame them. Correa is a franchise player and an MVP caliber producer. Keep in mind that with just one more year of service time than Correa has right now, both Mike Trout (six years, $144 million) and Buster Posey (eight years, $159 million) signed nine-figure contracts.
As it stands, Correa will make $535,000 in 2017. The league minimum. Don't feel bad for him though. He received a $4.8 million bonus as the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft, plus Heyman says he has multi-million dollar endorsement deals already in place, including one with Adidas. Correa's massive payday is coming. For now, he has no plans to sign long-term with the Astros, but that doesn't mean the club should stop trying to sign him either.
