Fantasy Baseball Today - 🚨Carlos Correa is returning to the Minnesota Twins! - Emergency Podcast (1/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: January 10, 2023

Carlos Correa is headed back to the Twins after all (1:10). What's his Fantasy value? ... Correa or Jeremy Peńa (5:50)? Correa or Amed Rosario? ... We wrap up with our other thoughts regarding the Twins and New York Mets (8:30). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Third times a charm, we hope. Welcome into another Carlos Correa emergency edition of fantasy baseball today on Tuesday, January 10th. Frank Stanfield joined by Chris Towers. Fun fact, the last time we did one of these emergency pods, Carlos Correa signed with the Mets. Yet here we are once again. So I'm not sure that there's going to be a fourth team. Hopefully not.

Let's jump right in. And Carlos Correa is officially headed back to the Minnesota Twins after all. Let's just kind of walk through the timeline here. This started with a 13-year $350 million deal to the San Francisco Giants. That got scrapped. Then a 12-year, $315 million deal with the New York Mets. Now that gets scrapped.

And here we are, six years, $200 million to the twins, which includes a vesting option for four years and $70 million, $70 million, which could be added on to the six years. So this could turn into a 10-year-old. $270 million deal, but that's something for six years from now. That's when we'll focus on that. The Giants and Mets both had issues with Carlos Correa's physical, which apparently there's something wrong with Carlos Carrey's lower right leg,

which he broke back in 2014 in the minors, but I don't think that's going to be an issue for the twins, considering they signed him last off-season, and clearly they're looking to sign him once again here. Chris, your initial reaction, no Giants, no Mets, now Carlos Correa headed back to the Minnesota Twins. Yeah, I think the initial reaction is you'd rather have Carlos Correa going to the Mets if you were going to draft Carlos Correa. But all in all, it's not, you know, given the uncertainty around his health and the fact that the Mets pulled back and there were all these reports, it's not terribly surprising that he ended up not going to the Mets.

It was kind of surprising that he ended up being there to begin with. It sounds like Steve Cohen kind of pushed his owner, his front office around to get this done. And, you know, ultimately we end up with the status quo, which is Carlos Correa, going back to the place he was last year, which we know how he performs in this park. We know what to expect for the most part. And, you know, I think it's probably a downgrade for his value, not going to the Mets. It's a much better lineup in New York. But it doesn't change his outlook too much. I do wonder like, does the ongoing nature of this ankle issue, does it mess with his value,

at least in the way people perceive him from the start of the off season? And that's going to be something interesting to see. That is an interesting question. I think the price on Correa has been fair all along. The ADP over the last month, 122.8 as the 15th shortstop off the board. It seems like a good deal all around. I know he doesn't run, which obviously NFBC formats, you want as many steals, as many overall complete five-by-five players as you can possibly get. So I understand that aspect of it.

But either way, I mean, Correa could be a legit four-category contributor. So he seems like a good deal right now. I wonder if that price will come back down a little bit now that he's not going to the New York Mets. Last year, Correa finished 104th overall in Roto, which again, he did that with terrible counting sets. 70 run scored 64 RBI. He was inside the top 105. Now this year, his ADP has moved back 20 spots. It just doesn't really

make sense. Maybe, you know, people were waiting to see where Carlos Correa would sign. Ultimately, I think the counting stats should be better. Obviously, we need Byron Bucson and Jorge Polanco and all these guys to stay healthy because that will help with the counting stats for Carl's Correa. But he hits the ball really hard for a shortstop. I think

we're going to get, you know, 22 to 25 home run, something like that, and a really good batting average once again. Chris, I think an underrated aspect of this. And you kind of talked about how the value won't be as good now, now that he's not going to the Mets. He's not going to play third base either. That was something last time we spoke that we were kind of propping up his value because third base is kind of a wasteland. And now Carl's Correa will not be playing third base. At least not this year, he will be playing shortstop. So I think that's something we need to factor in as well.

Yeah, that hurts his value. And I could see his ADP dropping as a result of this. And I actually think that's a good thing because like you said, finishing 150th, last season. Obviously, you know, part of that is just he was mostly healthy and guys who play 136 games are going to rank relatively highly. But, you know, like you said, the, the counting stats were just outrageously bad. He had one home run with runners in scoring position. He only had 30 RBI and 121 played appearances with runners in scoring position. The prior year he had, I think it was something like 66 RBI and 180 played appearances with runners in scoring position. So that kind of tells you how far off. And you can point to, well, it's a worse lineup than he had in Houston,

certainly a worse lineup than he would have had in New York. But even with that, I think you easily take the over on, what was it, 70 runs in 64 RBI. Like that just, I think if nothing else changes, he's the exact same player as he was last year, he probably gets to 85, 85. You know, I don't think that's asking too much. And obviously, I don't think that's the ceiling. I think that's closer to what you should expect the floor to be. And which cat are we hearing in the background, Chris? Is that Liz Lemon? That is that is Liz Lemon. She's a she's a diehard Mets fan and she's distraught at at this news. Actually, she just, she wants to be let out of my office. But I gave her the choice

to come in or out and she chose in. So you got to live with your decisions, Lemon. Ah, those pesky cats. I know it all too well. Also, we'll talk about this from a Mets perspective in just a little bit. I want to talk about that ADP a little bit more over the last month over at the NFBC. 122.8 is the ADP for Carlos Correa, the 15th shortstop off the board. Chris, I know we're kind of working on our rankings, which will be out

next week on the site, so make sure you look around for those. But Correa is going 11 picks behind his Houston Astros replacement in Jeremy Payne. Who would you rather have, Correa or Pena? I could see the case for Pena, you know, as a

player who's making, you know, who's on the up swing and all that, but like, unless you really need stolen bases, I think Carlos Correa is just a dramatically better player. I know Pena had a very good postseason and maybe he'll carry that over into, you know, a big year too. But I just think the, the underlying skill sets, the track record, everything we've seen from Carlos Correa suggests that he's just a much better hitter than Jeremy Pena. And I don't know, maybe the 10 to 15 steals that Pena gives you can, can, make up for the gap, but I don't think so.

Pena is a fun player, man. So I get why this is so close. I currently have Carlos Correa ranked one spot higher. They're back to back. But man, Pena really, really flashed in the postseason. And I think it's something he could carry over into this year. Obviously, a much better lineup, too, with the Houston Astros. The other name here going back to back with Correa is a Meder Rosario.

Correa is just four, no, not even two picks ahead of a mederazario. What do you think about those two? another one where I think you can make a case for Rosario the the stolen bases again are are kind of doing a lot of the heavy lifting but man it was an empty batting average last season I mean he had 283 he was actually his OPS was actually slightly down from the year before but we've gotten a lot more excited about him I'm not exactly sure I understand why Rosario is is viewed more head excuse me my cat jumped on the desk why Rosario is viewed so much more positively right now. I think he's fine, but it's really like stolen bases and batting average are important. They're hard to find, but I'll get, I'll take the all around skill set from Carlos Correa, who should be a better source of batting average than Rosario as well. For what it's worth, Ameta Rosario finished 67th overall in Rodo last year. So quite a bit higher than Correa probably because he played more games. So that factors into the batting average.

He scored the 86 runs helped too. Yep. The run scored and obviously the 18 steals and, you know, Maybe Rosario runs a little bit more this year with the new rules. He's always been really fast. It's just kind of weird that he's never, you know, had a big steals output, something like 25 to 30 for Amad Rosario. Let's talk about this quickly from a Minnesota Twins perspective. And I kind of want to focus on their prospects more than anything else. I think, you know, this is a slight boost to those around Correa,

Byron Buxton, Polanco. They'll see a few more counting stats, obviously. But the big prospects for the twins coming up sooner rather than later are middle infield. there's Royce Lewis is rehabbing from a second torn ACL, expected to be back sometime in the middle of the season. We've seen him play outfield a little bit here or there, so I guess that's the path for him. But there's also a second baseman in Edward Julian who lit up the Arizona Fall League. He was either the MVP or most improved player, most outstanding player, something like that. He was awesome.

He's going to play second base. So we've got middle infield prospects, and now the twins just signed Carlos Correa. So what do you think about that, Chris? I think you worry about that when it happens And the fact that Carlos Correa We feel pretty confident that he could be a third baseman In the long run he might be a better fit at third base defensively I think that that's not something I'm too concerned about

You have, you know, Luis Arias can move around And play a bunch of different positions So I don't think you know it's gonna block Jose Miranda if it comes to it It's the kind of problem that if it becomes a problem for the twins It's a good problem for them to have All right Liz Lemon agrees. She thinks it's a good problem for the Minnesota Twins. Let's wrap up with those New York Mets. Liz Lemon's favorite team as you mentioned. What happens now? Well, Eduardo Escobar, welcome back. You have a job once again. You are the starting third baseman for the Mets for now, assuming they don't go out and make another move.

This also creates a clearer path for one of their top prospects, Brett Beatty, to work his way into a third base opportunity if Escobar doesn't, you know, if he's not performing well or whatever the reason. I think this makes it easier for Brett Beatty to get back to the majors. And rostered resource has moved Starling Marte back into the two-hole in the Mets lineup. So if anybody had concerns over that, I think it's good things for Starling Marte, good things for Eduardo Escobar as well. Yeah, absolutely good things for Starling Marte moving back up in the lineup. You know, Beatty, the Mets have been more conservative with their top prospects than I think

certainly a lot of Mets fans and a lot of the fantasy community would prefer, you know, specifically with Francisco Alvarez and Brett Beatty over the past, you know, like the last few months of last season. I think a lot of people would have rather seen those guys up. And so, you know, I think it clears paths for both of them, right? Because it gives them one fewer really, really good player who's locked into a spot, whether it's, you know, third base and they, you know, can't play Beatty there or whether it just gives them another option at DH.

I think it makes it more likely that we seem more of Beatty. and then Francisco Alvarez. All right. Well, once again, Carlos Correa is headed back to the Minnesota Twins on a six-year $200 million deal, which includes a vesting option for four more years and $70 million on top of that.

Overall, it looks like value is back down a little bit compared to last time we spoke because he will not be playing for the New York Mets and Carlos Correa will not be playing third base. So keep those things in mind. We're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening

and watching this emergency edition of fantasy baseball today. We'll be back later on today. Bye-bye.