Carlos Correa has drawn his line in the sand in negotiations with the Houston Astros.
The star shortstop confirmed Thursday that he turned down Houston's most recent contract offer, reported to be for six years in the $120-million range. Additionally, the offer appears to have left a sour taste in Correa's mouth.
"The way things are looking, I don't know right now," Correa said when asked if he's confident a deal will get done, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. "The first offer, I thought it was really low. And if that's how they feel about me and that's where we stand, then I guess I'll go out there and play and try to win another championship for the city of Houston and then explore free agency."
"If they don't see me here long term, then another team will," he added, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
In February, Correa publicly expressed his desire to remain with the Astros for the rest of his career. He also set Opening Day as the deadline to get a deal done, something he said Thursday he will "absolutely not" change, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.
Though there's still one week to go before Opening Day, the 26-year-old has already started "preparing like I'm going to be a free agent," according to McTaggart. He added that there have been no further contract discussions since the Astros made their offer a couple of weeks ago.
Correa owns a lifetime .833 OPS over six major-league seasons, all of them in Houston. He's poised to be one of the top players available in next winter's deep free-agent market, which may also include fellow star shortstops Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, and Corey Seager, among others.
