Carlos Correa hires Scott Boras; Cubs fans collectively lose their minds

Concrete baseball news is hard to come by during the ongoing MLB lockout, but free agent shortstop Carlos Correa hit us with a sledgehammer on Tuesday, announcing his hiring of super-agent Scott Boras to represent him moving forward.

Almost instantaneously, Cubs fans waved the white flag on any potential pursuit of Correa once the lockout ends, despite the fact Chicago is widely viewed as a legitimate contender for the former American League Rookie of the Year. Remember when we thought the Cubs might be able to swoop in and land Correa on a relative bargain should his market fail to develop? Yeah, that’s not going to happen on Boras’ watch.

As we’re all well aware, the Cubs – and their owners – have a complicated history with Boras, who represents former MVP and Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant, who is also working his way through free agency for the first time. Of course, Boras and Bryant accused the organization of service time manipulation way back in 2015 – although, in the end, Chicago came out on top in the ruling.

That doesn’t mean Boras has forgotten, though. Now, he represents not only Correa and Bryant, but also Nick Castellanos and Carlos Rodon. Former Cub Dylan Cease, who is still several years from free agency, also switched his representation to the Boras Corporation this week.

So, why the switch? I mean, it’s not rocket science. Correa wants to set records with his next contract and Boras has a resume that’s unmatched in that space. He’s willing to make teams uncomfortable, play the waiting game and corner the market for his high-profile clients.

There’s a lot more to why Correa would leave his former agency, WME, and MLB Trade Rumors does a solid job in breaking down some of that here.

Chicago Cubs, Scott Boras have a lengthy history of trading barbs

But as far as Boras and the Cubs go, this development certainly changes the dynamic when it comes to a potential pursuit of Correa. There’s a complicated history of back-and-forth between the agent and team, as recently as 2020, when he singled out the Ricketts family as negotiations raged on over a shortened regular season in the wake of the pandemic.

At the end of the day, I think all this really does is raise the bar for what you expect Correa to land in free agency. Boras always gets his guys paid and this won’t be an exception to that rule. It doesn’t mean the Cubs won’t be in the hunt – but it means that you can put those dreams of any sort of discount to bed right now.