Does crazy blockbuster means its Cubs or Astros for Carlos Correa?

Man, Daylight Savings Time on the heels of an unexpected Sunday night blockbuster really makes some extra caffeine necessary come Monday morning.

In case you missed it, the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins hooked up on a multi-player trade that sent Josh Donaldson, catcher Ben Rortvedt and the recently-acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela.

As part of the trade, the Yankees will take on the entirety of the $50 million remaining on Donaldson’s contract – something worth taking note of. Given the additions of Donaldson and Kiner-Falefa, who join the likes of DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit as infield options, it’s hard to envision a scenario where New York could add Carlos Correa now.

So why is that relevant to Cubs fans? Well, because the Yankees were widely viewed as a leading suitor for Correa – whose list of landing spots may be down to either Chicago or Houston, who ramped up talked with the fan favorite over the weekend.

Neither team is reportedly keen on giving Correa what he wants – a deal that spans the next decade or more – so now, it might be more about a higher-AAV pact than anything else. It’s a safe bet that, one way or another, Scott Boras is going to make sure he sets some sort of record in the former AL Rookie of the Year’s next contract.

Cubs, Astros both could get creative in pitches to free agent Carlos Correa

Ken Rosenthal even pondered aloud whether or not Correa could pivot to a one-year, record-breaking AAV deal (subscription required), although I don’t think that really accomplishes all that much for him. He’s coming off one of the best years of his career and given it was just the second time in his career he stayed on the field for 140+ games, I certainly would’t roll the dice on being able to repeat that performance in 2022.

We’ve already heard that, in initial discussions, Houston was eyeing a deal in the five-year range, while the Cubs were reportedly comfortable going as long as seven for Correa. If you’re targeting Corey Seager’s $325 million contract with Texas, it get’s really difficult to hit that number at those terms, particularly in the Astros’ case (no one is paying $65 million a year to anyone for obvious reasons).

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Of course, another interested team could come out of the woodwork here and surprise us all. But the Yankees seemingly going in another direction and Minnesota reportedly having talks with Trevor Story could mean that Correa’s list of potential landing spots is down to just two teams heading into the week.