How a former Astro helped convince Carlos Correa to join Twins

The Minnesota Twins were looking for a big-name shortstop and landed on Carlos Correa, partly because a former Astros player advocated for the Twins. 

Five years ago, the Houston Astros had recently won the 2017 World Series, and Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez were fellow teammates and close friends.

Since then, a great deal has changed. Correa remained with the Astros, but Gonzalez spent two seasons with the Minnesota Twins before joining the Boston Red Sox and then, finally, returning to the Houston Astros in 2021.

Correa was thrilled to see him back, but by the 2022 offseason, both former Astros were headed in new directions. The Yankees signed Gonzalez while the Twins signed Correa. Part of the reason Correa chose the Twins was because Gonzalez reassured him.

Marwin Gonzalez reassured Carlos Carlos about signing with the Twins

Gonzalez, who spent 2019 and 2020 in Minnesota, recounted a conversation he had with Correa with The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal.

“He called me at the last minute, just to ask me how everything was over there,” Gonzalez said. “The coaching staff was great. The front office was great. The only bad thing was the weather, but the weather lasts just one month, the first month of the season. That was it. It wasn’t much. But that’s what he wanted to know.”

This isn’t the first time that Gonzalez and Correa have helped one another in free agency. Last season, it was Correa who campaigned to bring back Gonzalez.

Although these two were once Houston’s biggest stars, a lot has changed. Gonzalez signed a minor league contract with the Yankees, a team that was coincidentally interested in signing Correa instead. Instead of Correa, the Yankees got shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who came from the Twins.

Much to the chagrin of New York fans, the Yankees missed out on Correa and Story, although this is part of their clever free agency strategy to drive other teams to overspend.