Correa promises ‘championship culture’ for Twins

FORT MYERS, FLA. » Carlos Correa has declared October “his time.” It certainly hasn’t been Minnesota’s.

The Twins hope Correa can fix that, even if his stay in Minneapolis is short.

“I want to build a championship culture in this organization,” Correa said.

The former Houston Astros star tugged on a Twins’ No. 4 jersey and was formally introduced Wednesday, five days after agreeing to a $105.3 million, threeyear contract that includes opt-outs after the first and second seasons.

The Twins have famously lost 18 straight postseason games since their last October victory in 2004 — their most recent loss was in the 2020 wild-card round when Correa hit a go-ahead homer at Target Field to complete Houston’s sweep.

Correa is a World Series champion who cemented his playoff stardom last fall by celebrating a go-ahead homer against Boston by pointing to his wrist, looking into the home dugout and affirming “it’s my time.”

“He elevates the confidence because this person has simply done this before,” Twins manager Rocco

Baldelli said.

It’s part of why smallmarket Minnesota went for such an unusual deal. Correa’s $35.1 million average salary trails only Mike Trout’s $36 million with the Angels, a total in the same range as entire projected opening day payrolls in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Correa will be baseball’s highest-paid infielder this season — and he’ll have a chance to seek more after. The 27-year-old is a career .413 hitter with a 1.205 OPS in 15 games in Minnesota.

If he opts out after 2022, Correa would join a free agent market that could also include shortstops Trea Turner of the Dodgers, Xander Bogaerts from Boston and Tim Anderson from the White Sox. Correa is younger than all of those other candidates.

Correa hit .279 with 26 homers, 92 RBIs and an .851 OPS last season. He’s a twotime All-Star, the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year and has an .849 OPS over 79 career postseason games.

Judge says talks with Yankees ongoing

TAMPA, FLA. » New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hopes fluid conversions on a one-year deal or long-term contract can be completed before the April 7 opener.

Judge was disappointed a deal wasn’t reached before Tuesday’s deadline to swap proposed arbitration salaries. He asked for a raise from $10,175,000 to $21 million, and the Yankees countered with an offer of $17 million.

The slugging outfielder is eligible to become a free agent after the season.

“I think both sides, we want to come to an agreement,” Judge said. “I know both filed numbers but that doesn’t mean the communication stops. Hopefully, we can continue to communicate and kind of find a number that works for both of us.”

Judge hit .287 with 39 homers and 98 RBIs in 148 games last season. He turns 30 next month.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Bran Cashman are open to working on a longterm deal. Judge has consistently said he will not talk about a new contract once the season begins

“We’ve both kind of talked about it but no numbers,” Judge said. “I’m optimistic but it’s a short window.”

By The Associated Press