Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman react to the stunning trade deadline day deal that sends the former All-Star shortstop back to the team that drafted him first overall in 2012. Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Carlos Correa.
goes home.
The Minnesota Twins have sent Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros in exchange for TBD.
We don’t know the return yet.
However, we do know that Correa is back on the Astros.
What in the world?
This came out of absolutely nowhere, it seemed like, when you looked at all of the rankings on various websites of, like, best players to get moved to the deadline.
No Correa, like, not on the radar.
Now, it’s worth saying the overall impact of this deal versus just the total shock value of this deal, there’s a bit of a difference, like, this is sexier and more flooring than it is going to move the needle of the rest of the season, in my personal opinion, but Jordan, take me through your reaction of seeing this.
I, I mean, I, I, I know, I, I think I sort of agree with the sentiment that you’re getting at, because there are some other very impactful players that have been traded and maybe still will be traded in the next 20 minutes.
But I think this is part of what makes the Carlos Correa story so interesting.
There’s so many basic levels of it, which is just like, oh my God, he’s back on the Astros.
I mean, that’s, that is a shocking thing.
This is not someone that we ever expected to really be traded again for any reason.
And let alone back to Houston when you consider, uh, what it has, what it has taken this season to require the Astros to need Carlos Correa for any reason, right?
Isa Correa is having this serious injury that is obviously much worse than I think we thought at the time.
It seems like he’s going to be out for the season.
He was having a good season since he, he came over from the club in that, in that Kyle Tucker deal.
Jeremy Pena also having a marvelous season and he’s still coming back.
From injury.
It sounds like Carlos Correa is gonna play third base, but I want to get back to the premise that you kind of laid out there of how much is this going to change the season.
And the reason that I totally understand you are saying that is because you pull up Carlos Correa this year and you see that he has a 704 OPS.
You see that he’s slugging 386.
You see that he’s a well below average hitter.
And you say, OK, well, how big of a difference is this guy going to make?
And yet this is what is so bizarre about Correa at this stage in his career, is he has essentially in his 4 years in Minnesota alternated looking like an MVP candidate and looking like a completely overpaid, not superstar whatsoever, and injuries have been a part of that, but he has played a lot of games this year.
I don’t know.
I mean, maybe he just turns it back on.
I mean, he’s mostly been on the field this year.
We know he’s a marvelous postseason performer, and we know the Astros are clearly pushing to win another division title.
We’re gonna talk about the Mariners a little bit later.
They’re pushing to kind of challenge them there, but I have no idea what to expect from Correa whatsoever, and now he’s playing a position that I’m sure he can handle, but he has never played in his career, which will be third base.
