The Houston Astros reacquired Carlos Correa in a shocking blockbuster deal with the Minnesota Twins just before the MLB trade deadline Thursday.
Correa, a Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star in his prior stint with the Astros, waived his no-trade clause to make the deal happen. He has also agreed to play third base, sharing the left side of the infield with Jeremy Pena.
"I had some conversations with the front office in Minnesota, and we were not moving [the direction] I thought we were after making the playoffs [in 2023]," Correa told MLB.com on Thursday, "and they agreed with me that it was time to move me.
"I let them know there was only one team I would allow that to happen."
The Astros went into the trade deadline prioritizing a left-handed hitter and a starter, but third baseman Isaac Paredes could miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury, prompting them to get aggressive in a trade for Correa. Moments later, their need for a left-handed hitter was also filled in a deal to acquire outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the Miami Marlins.
The trade amounted to a salary dump, with the Twins, up for sale since October, clearly motivated to shed financial obligations during the trade deadline. The Twins agreed to take on only $33 million of the remaining $104 million owed to Correa through 2028 and thus did not get much prospect capital in return for one of the sport's most recognizable players. Matt Mikulski, a 26-year-old left-hander who is still in A ball, went from the Astros' system to the Twins'.
The Marlins received shortstop Chase Jaworsky, a top-10 prospect in the Astros' system, as well as minor league outfielder Esmil Valencia and major league right-hander Ryan Guston in exchange for Sanchez.
A former No. 1 pick out of high school in Puerto Rico in 2012, Correa was one of the faces of an Astros team that won the World Series in 2017 -- though the club was later found to have been stealing signs during that season -- and became the most successful American League franchise in recent years.
This year, though, Correa's numbers are down. He is slashing .267/.319/.386 with seven home runs in 93 games.
"This is a big move for the team, for the city, for where we're going in the future," Houston general manager Dana Brown said. "... He's just going to bring a lot, not only as a player but as a human being -- his leadership skills and the energy that he's going to bring to this club. So I'm fired up."
This will be Correa's first time playing third base in the majors, but he told MLB.com it's something he had been looking forward to.
"I've been wanting to play third base for the past couple of years, but it wasn't happening in Minnesota," Correa said. "We were waiting for a shortstop to come in, and now that I get to play third base, it would be great for me at this stage of my career."
Sanchez, 27, has slashed .246/.312/.432 with 69 homers and 29 steals in 522 games with the Marlins from 2021 to 2025, during which he played mostly right field. He is controllable through 2027.
Brown said the Astros pursued pitching but that the focus was improving their slumping offense since injured starters Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia are all close to returning.
"The asking prices for the arms seem to be pretty high," Brown said. "And knowing that we had some arms coming back, we stuck with the bats, and these bats we feel like are going to make a pretty good impact on our offense, help us score some runs and win some games."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.