Author: /u/RedfishSC2

I have a spare ticket to Saturday’s game at Camden Yards. It’s solo, but it’s free, and it’s for one of the best seats in the house. I figured I’d check and see if any local Astros fans here may want it before trying to sell it again last minute. DM me if interested, or send me a PM on the sub’s Discord.

I know a lot of us are feeling down about wanting the team to give Correa the hefty extension he deserves before the season starts. It’s a tricky situation with his injury history of course, and with next year’s market so saturated with star shortstops.

It got me to thinking: aside from us, which teams would give Correa the kind of deal he’s looking for? Who would be our competition? I decided to look at all teams as far as willingness or potential to contend and spend, who needs a shortstop, and whether or not Correa would be a fit there. Spoiler alert: >! From my own amateur musings, it looks like the market favors the Astros in negotiations rather than Correa. Maybe that’s why the $120m offer was made, more than a much bigger one. !<

Here’s how it broke down for me.

Teams eliminated from possibility due to lack of contention or budget: CLE, PIT, BAL, COL, CIN, OAK

Teams eliminated from possibility due to lack of need for SS: NYY (Torres), BOS (Bogaerts), TOR (Bichette), TB (Adames), CHW (Anderson), KC (Mondesi), SD (Tatis), ARI (Ahmed), STL (DeJong), ATL (Swanson), WAS (Turner)

So, who does that leave? Us, SEA, LAA, MIN, DET, LAD, SF, CHC, MIL, NYM, MIA, PHI

Looking at those teams…

• SEA: Doubtful. They’re probably a year or two away from adding big FAs, and they have Crawford under team control for a long time.
• LAA: Funnily enough, the Angels could be in it. Correa, Rendon, Ohtani, Trout would be an insane lineup…but they still need pitching.
• MIN: Doubtful, they have Polanco for awhile.
• DET: Doubtful, Castro looks really good.
• LAD: Wouldn’t fans have a field day with this? They’re definitely getting one of the big FAs, but it’s probably Seager or anyone BUT Correa.
• SF: Possibly, but they’re really old and need a rebuild, and they’re not out-contending SD or LAD any time soon.
• CHC: Similar situation to LAD. They have a need, but probably Baez for them.
• MIL: Would make a good amount of sense for them, really, if they feel like they can compete vs CHC or STL in the near future.
• MIA: Actually a really, really good fit. Young team stacked with great pitching, only $15m and no SS money committed to next season, the Puerto Rico proximity, and a huge new TV deal.
• NYM: Also a really good fit, though from a marketing standpoint I can see them wanting to hold onto Lindor rather than take on a FA and let him go, especially if they compete this season.
• PHI: Very doubtful. They have over $30 mil tied up in Segura and Gregorius next season and they’re kind of a mess.

From that list, obviously just my opinion, but, the big competitors for us would be MIA, MIL, NYM, and LAA. NYM and LAA can definitely outspend us, but I’d bet that NYM locks up Lindor and that LAA goes more for pitching, though their front office does really weird things.

Anyhow, other thoughts here?