Everything to know about Mets concern over Carlos Correa’s physical

It turns out Carlos Correa might not be headed to the New York Mets after all, or at least not like it initially appeared. 

Another physical, another problem for Carlos Correa.

According to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal, after all the hullabaloo about the Mets snatching Correa away from the Giants following concerns over his physical, New York is experiencing the same issue.

Just as it happened with the Giants, concerns have popped up over Correa’s surgically repaired right leg. Nothing has been called off, but it appears that Correa’s $315M deal with the Mets is in danger of falling apart. The extent to which another problematic physical will damage his deal with New York is yet to be seen, and there’s nothing suggesting the Mets will blow things up.

But one of the most bizarre free agent journies in recent memory continues to get even weirder.

So what does this all mean, and where do things go from here?

Carlos Correa rumors: Everything to know about issues with Mets deal

Here’s the timeline of events we know of:

• Correa receives a 10-year, $285M offer from the Twins, but declines
• Instead, Correa agrees to a 13-year, $350M offer from the Giants
• Correa takes a San Francisco for a physical, it comes back with a red flag
• That red flag concerns his surgically repaired lower right leg
• Minnesota gets word that there’s a hold up in the deal with the Giants, but doesn’t act
• In the chaos, Steve Cohen enters the chat and the Mets agree to a 12-year, $315M deal with Correa
• New York gloats, the baseball world is shocked but everyone begins to become skeptical that the Giants weren’t onto something with concerns over his physical
• Sure enough, despite the pomp and circumstance, Correa’s physical with the Mets produces “concerns” and the deal gets held up.

To say it’s been a whirlwind is to understate how dramatic this whole adventure has been — and it’s not over yet.

First and foremost, the deal appears to still be on. While there are issues with the physical, neither the Mets nor Scott Boras has indicated that anything has changed — at least, not yet.

New York poaching Correa away from San Francisco with a 12-year, $135M deal, especially with the team entering the race at the 11th hour, seems to suggest that both parties want this partnership to work.

One possible route, according to Rosenthal, could be the Mets reworking the language in Correa’s contract to withhold guarantees if he misses a certain amount of games due to injury. That sounds good for New York, but Boras isn’t an agent known to buckle or bend and such a concession could be viewed as unacceptable.

Correa has now either been close to or agreed to massive long-term contracts with three different teams over the course of a week. The Minnesota Twins remain the odd man out, despite offering the highest contract the franchise has ever offered a player.

Could this mean Correa is back in play for Minnesota?

Could Carlos Correa end up back with the Minnesota Twins?

As Rosenthal points out, the Twins didn’t budge when Boras came back to them after issues with the Giants. If Minnesota was unwilling to raise its offer to Correa after one concerning physical, it’s unlikely it would after two.

However, the pressure from Twins fans has been intensifying after a failure to secure any of the other top free agent targets Minnesota identified this winter. Carlos Rodon signed with the Yankees, Dansby Swanson signed with the Cubs, and all the Twins managed to muster was a one-year prove-it deal with Joey Gallo.

A third chance at Correa, coupled with what is essentially a failure of an offseason, might prompt the Twins to get back into the game and up their offer.