March 19, 2022

Correa finally has a home, and a chilly one at that, inking a three-year deal with the Minnesota Twins. Correa instantly becomes one of Minnesota's most fearsome bats, and will likely become their number three hitter along with every day shortstop. While it's nice to know where Correa is playing after a long, tumultuous offseason, this is a player who should mash no matter where he wound up. His surface stats were solid last season as Correa slashed .279/.366/.485 in 640 PAs, but the underlying numbers suggest the potential for even better numbers going forward. Correa makes superb contact, boasting a 90.2 MPH average exit velocity and a blistering 116.4 max exit velo, along with a .296 xBA. Correa also made strides in the strikeout department last year, posting an 18.1% strikeout rate, tied for the lowest of his career and his lowest since his rookie season. At just 27 years old Correa is in his athletic prime and shows no signs of slowing down. The move from Houston to Minnesota could affect Correa's volume stats (Correa scored 104 runs and drove in 92 runs last season) due to a weaker supporting cast, but he'll go from hitting fifth or sixth to third in the lineup, giving him more overall plate appearances to pile up numbers. When all healthy, he will have the talent Byron Buxton and the OBP machine Luis Arraez hitting in front of him, giving him ample opportunity to pad those stats. With an NFBC ADP of around 98 Correa is an excellent value at a loaded shortstop position. He should provide similar production to that of Xander Bogaerts, but can be had 50 picks later. If you miss out on the elite tier of shortstops, forgoing tier two and waiting for Correa seems like an excellent strategy.--Elliott Baas