Wednesday Bird Droppings: Carlos Correa agrees to deal with another team that isn’t the Orioles

Good morning, Birdland!

Could the Carlos Correa saga be nearing its merciless end? The shortstop has now verbally agreed to a contract with his third franchise of the offseason. This time the offer on the table is a return to the Minnesota Twins, where he spent 2022.

The deal is rather complicated by baseball standards. At its base, the contract is worth $200 million and spans six seasons, but there are four vesting options that could make it worth $270 million over 10 years. Assuming the physical goes through this time—after all, the Twins will have already looked at his medicals last winter—Correa will secure a pact that may be $150 million less than he thought he was getting from the Giants just a month ago.

As for how this relates to the Orioles, it doesn’t. At least, not really. There were certainly those (myself included!) that thought a Correa deal made a lot of sense for the O’s at this juncture. But there was never any indication early that they were going to be deeply involved, and once medical concerns cropped up it seemed even less likely.

What may be relevant is that the Mets now have one less big contract on their books in 2023 and beyond. Perhaps that didn’t matter much anyway for owner Steve Cohen. He already has the beefiest payroll in the game. But this opening could further embolden him at this year’s trade deadline or even next winter, when some big names could be on the market. That includes Manny Machado and Shohei Ohtani.

The Orioles won’t be handing out a big free agent contract this year. But maybe they would think about it a year from now? If they do, it will likely be for a pitcher, and as much fun as Ohtani would be it’s tough to envision the O’s handing out the biggest free agent contract ever, and that’s exactly what the two-way player is lining up to land next offseason.

Links

As Frederick waits for return of affiliated baseball, the city will settle for a name for its newest team | The Baltimore Sun
It’s a shame that the Orioles no longer have an affiliate relationship in Frederick. Clearly, it is a town that enjoys its baseball. That makes news of this additional team and hope for a future return to MLB affiliation quite welcome.

Orioles’ Chris Vallimont: Outrighted to Triple-A | CBS Sports
Huge news for the Vallimont fans in our ranks. Don’t all stand up at once!

Who’s the best prospect? Underrated? Execs weigh in | MLB Pipeline
As is the often the case with any prospect-based articles these days, the Orioles get loads of love. Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday get the majority of the love here, but there’s also a few others sprinkled in.

Checking the current IF depth chart and what may be on the way | Steve Melewski
The infield that the Orioles put forth on Opening Day could be drastically different from the one that’s playing everyday by September. There isn’t much incentive for the team to get Adam Frazier a particularly long leash at second base, and something similar can be said for Jorge Mateo’s bat at the shortstop position.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Stevie Wilkerson is 31 today. The super-utilityman took part in three seasons with some bad Orioles teams from 2018-21. He played six different positions for the Birds, including 6.1 innings on the mound. That’s where he left his mark on the league, becoming the first position player to record a save, a 16-inning 10-8 win over the Angels in 2019.
• Greg Aquino turns 45. The righty appeared in nine games for the 2008 Orioles, his only experience with the club.
• The late Carl Powis (1928-1999) was born on this day. His entire big league career was encapsulated by 15 games with the 1957 Orioles.
• An original Oriole, Neil Berry (1922-2016) was also born on this day. He appeared in five games for that very first Orioles team in 1954.

This day in history

2002 - The Orioles abandon their one-year experiment with outfield wall dimensions. The changes had made it more difficult to hit a home run from the left field foul line over to center field.