Agent: Correa will 'never' sign early multi-year contract
In the past month alone, five promising young players - each with less than three years of MLB service time - signed lucrative, multi-year contract extensions. Now, on top of having job security for the next half-decade or so, none of Stephen Piscotty, Rougned Odor, Jose Ramirez, Tim Anderson, or Roberto Perez will ever have to endure an arbitration hearing.
Still, Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros' precocious shortstop, isn't prepared to sign away his arbitration seasons, according to his agent, Greg Genske, and the 22-year-old doesn't appear amenable to a contract that would eat into his free agency years, either.
"Carlos is never going to do an (early) multi-year contract," Genske told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
| Player (Team) | Service time | Deal | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Piscotty (STL) | 1.076 | 6 years, $33.5M | 1 |
| Roberto Perez (CLE) | 2.083 | 4 years, $9M | 2 |
| Rougned Odor (TEX) | 2.121 | 6 years, $49.5M | 1 |
| Jose Ramirez (CLE) | 2.074 | 5 years, $26M | 2 |
| Tim Anderson (CWS) | 0.115 | 6 years, $25M | 2 |
In exchange for the salary certainty of a long-term, pre-arbitration extension, some of the aforementioned players may end up forfeiting millions in potential earnings, having signed away one or more of their free agency years. Correa, however, whose contract with the Astros was recently renewed for the league minimum ($535,000), appears resolved to hit the open market as soon as he's eligible, according to a friend of his.
"His mentality has always been that he's going to play it out," the friend said.
Primed to hit free agency following the 2021 season, Correa - the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year - may see his salary jump considerably as soon as next season, potentially earning an extra year of arbitration-eligibility as a Super Two player. (Players who rank among the top 22 percent in service time among players with more than two but less than three years of service get an extra year).
For now, though, Correa will look to improve on a very impressive 2016 campaign in which he managed 4.9 WAR with an .811 OPS (124 OPS+) and 59 extra-base hits in 153 games with Houston. Ten games into the 2017 season, Correa is hitting .282/.341/.359 with one home run and seven strikeouts.