The New York Mets swooped in to sign Carlos Correa after his physical caused the San Francisco Giants to back out of a massive, 13-year contract. That may have been a mistake.
All MLB contracts are signed pending a physical. This protects teams from financial ruin if the player they sign has an injury, and it protects the Giants. The Mets wanted the superstar anyway and jumped at the chance to spend more money, but it may have backfired.
The options going forward after the Mets discovered the same injury concerns the Giants had are slim. The Mets may not even be able to back out after making public comments on the signing.
They could restructure their contract to allow for injury stipulations. JD Martinez did so with the Boston Red Sox years ago after a foot injury.
However, MLB writer Pat Ragazzo says Correa isn’t interested in restructuring anything about the 12-year, $325 million deal he agreed to earlier.
“Carlos Correa’s camp and the New York Mets are still trying to work through concerns over the star infielder’s physical examination. According to Mike Puma…Correa’s preference is to play for the Mets, however, he has no interest in restructuring the length or financial terms of his contract.”
He added:
“At least three teams have been in contact with Correa’s camp in recent days, but Correa is committed to finalizing a deal with the Mets.”
, the official signing doesn’t happen until later. The Mets haven’t officially signed Correa and won’t for a while as they parse through this injury saga.</p>
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However, unlike the Giants, they can’t just back out. MLB rules state that teams can’t comment publicly on unofficial deals, and Steve Cohen did just that.
If the Mets want to back out, they may not be able to as a result. Things could get messy very quickly.