Cubs: Extreme caution must be exercised when it comes to Carlos Correa

Before the lockout started, the Chicago Cubs were rumored to be in talks with Carlos Correa and the only thing that seemed to hold up the process was for one, the lockout itself, and for two the number of years Correa was looking for. Never mind the fact that in the middle of the lockout Correa hired Scott Boras as his agent. Never mind whether it’s seven or 10+ years. When breaking down the overall numbers for Correa, the simple truth is this: offensively, at least, there is a lot of talent that is just as capable of producing the numbers he has put up in his career for far less – both in dollars and years.

First, with all due respect to the man himself, Correa is a bona fide stud that just put up an electric 7.2 WAR during the 2021 campaign. It’s not like he is anywhere close to ineffective or anything like that and frankly, I personally like the player he is. Should he end up in a Cubs uniform post-lockout, you won’t find me crying myself to sleep every night. This is not a knock on Correa at all.

It’s simply an observation that for the amount of money Correa is destined to land in free agency, you can literally get two for the price of one and then some in terms of offensive production at the plate. Scoring runs is something  the Cubs desperately need more of this season as they ranked in the bottom third of the league in runs per game just a year ago.

Looking at projections for Correa, Baseball Reference has him pegged for  .269/.349/.464 with 23 home runs and 81 runs batted in this coming season. Respectable, of course, but for an AAV of $32-35M a season, how worth it are these numbers offensively? Defensively, Correa was awarded his first Gold Glove in 2021 – and also brought home the Platinum Glove. Clearly, he is an above-average defender. Nobody can argue that. The point is, are you willing to pay somebody tens of millions dollars more a season than somebody that can produce equal numbers offensively just because they are a better defender?