When Carlos Correa came to terms with the New York Mets, his agent dubbed it Correamas Day, but for those following the events leading up to the shortstop signing a six-year deal with the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, it seemed more like Correahog Day.

Dec. 20, 2022: Giants delay Carlos Correa’s introduction — and the saga truly begins

After finishing second in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes, the Giants shifted their focus to the 28-year-old Correa, the finest free agent left on the market, and lavished him with the fourth-largest contract in baseball history. Correa was expected to make more than Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson.

And the other three outstanding shortstops available in free agency this winter, and become the face of the organization in an ever-competitive NL West, with a contract worth $350 million. Correa therefore passed up Minnesota, where he will play in 2022, and the New York Mets, who made an 11th-hour bid. If a big-market team came in and snatched up Correa, the Twins publicly said they couldn’t compete. Minnesota’s 10-year, $285 million offer was simply insufficient.

The Giants postpone Carlos Correa’s debut until December 20, 2022, and the tale truly begins.

A normal physical, which is required when a free agent inks a new contract, was everything but routine. The morning news conference to present Correa was abruptly canceled. Later, Giants president Farhan Zaidi acknowledged a “difference of opinion” on the examination of Correa’s medicals.

According to sources, the problem included the bottom part of his right leg, which required surgery in 2014 when Correa was still in his teens. Doctors were concerned that his limb would deteriorate throughout the course of the deal. The Giants advocated withdrawing and reevaluating the arrangement, with the possibility of restructuring. Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, took a different route.

Carlos Correa hits a late-night home run for the Mets on December 21, 2022.

While the Giants were deliberating, Boras called Mets owner Steve Cohen, who had already committed roughly $500 million to free agents this winter, and inquired if he wanted to re-sign Correa. Cohen did, and within 12 hours of Correa’s contract with the Giants expiring, the shortstop had a brand-new megadeal with the Mets: 12 years, $315 million – still more years and money than his free agency counterparts. “This pushes us over the top,” Cohen, who brokered the transaction while on vacation in Hawaii, told the New York Post in the early hours of the morning. Correa would shift to third base and play in the middle of the lineup for a team with a payroll approaching $500 million. A passed physical was all that was required to formalize the transaction.

Dec. 24, 2022: The Mets are concerned about Correa’s physical condition.

According to insiders, the Mets, like the Giants, had difficulties with Correa’s right leg. However, the temptation for Correa and the Mets to work through their issues and reach an agreement was considerable. Correa’s market outside of New York would be hampered by two failed physicals. If the Mets lose their significant offseason acquisition, fans will ask if the 2023 team is really that much better than the 2022 team that was eliminated in the wild-card round.

The discussions centered on guarantee wording. The Mets were happy with preserving the 12-year, $315 million contract, but only half of it was guaranteed. According to insiders, for the final six years of the contract, the Mets requested that their medical staff perform a physical on Correa at the end of each season – regardless of his health during the season. The findings of the physical would then determine whether the contract was renewed for the next year.

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Boras sought an agreement that included provisions for specific injuries, similar to those he’d negotiated in the past for J.D. Martinez and J.D. Drew with the Red Sox and Magglio Ordonez and Pudge Rodriguez with the Tigers. For Martinez, for example, if he spent 60 days on the injured list due to a foot injury, the Red Sox could convert the final two guaranteed years of his contract to mutual options.

The Mets persisted to their six-year, $157.5 million offer, and with no movement, Boras increased his involvement with the Twins last week. Minnesota, more satisfied with Correa’s medicals after seeing him up close for a year, pounced, knowing that his guarantee had taken a knock due to the injury.

Even as the likelihood of a deal with the Twins increased, the impact of the previous month could still be felt.

“The optimism is genuine,” a team source told ESPN before the agreement was reached. “But I won’t believe it until the ink is completely dried.”

Carlos Correa’s saga concludes with a six-year contract with the Twins on January 10, 2023.

The Twins and Carlos Correa agreed to agreement on a six-year, $200 million contract on Tuesday. Vesting options pay $25 million for the seventh year, $20 million for the eighth, $15 million for the ninth, and $10 million for the tenth. It also includes a full no-trade clause and annual salary of $36 million for the first three years, followed by $31.5 million, $30.5 million, and $30 million for the following three years.

The four biggest free players this offseason signed enormous megadeals that were not only dangerous, but also created a historic hot stove trend.

The maximum value is $270 million, which is approximately $7.5 million. More than the Mets would have paid him over ten years but $15 million less than the Twins were planning to guarantee him the first time around. The average annual value of Correa’s guaranteed contract is $33.3 million. And the second-highest figure for a shortstop behind only Francisco Lindor’s 10-year, $341 million deal with the Mets. And while the total dollars pale in comparison to Correa’s Giants deal, ending up at $200 million is far from worst-case scenario.

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What-if scenarios abound in the Carlos Correa saga. What if they had taken a breather and negotiated with the Giants? What if Cohen hadn’t gone public? And what if Correa or the Mets gave in? What if the Twins don’t come calling? For the time being, as the proceedings appear to be winding down. And there is only one question to be answered: Did he pass his physical?

And if he does, baseball’s most painful, whiplash-inducing free agency period will come to a conclusion.