The ongoing owner lockout means that shortstop Carlos Correa, the top free on the market this offseason, can't yet sign with a team. Correa can, however, switch agents, and that's precisely what he's done.
As Mark Berman reports, Correa has hired Scott Boras, perhaps the leading agent in all of sports, to represent him in advance of his next contract. He'd previously been represented by William Morris Endeavor (WME). Correa on Tuesday released the following statement regarding his decision:
"I have made the decision to hire Boras Corporation to represent me moving forward. Boras Corporation offers the highest level of baseball expertise and proven experience."
As Evan Drellich of The Athletic recently reported, WME agents may be in line to lose MLBPA certification because of the company's recent purchase of 10 minor-league franchises. Likely, this played a role in Correa's decision.
Correa, 27, is a two-time All-Star, and he's coming off a 2021 campaign with the Astros in which he finished fifth in the AL MVP balloting. Critically, he was also able to stay healthy for the most part, which has not been the case throughout much of his career. Correa is an elite package of premium defensive skills at shortstop and top-tier production at the plate (127 OPS+ for his career with strong power numbers). Given the market for shortstops, Correa's next contract figures to be worth well more than $300 million. Coming into the winter, our R.J. Anderson ranked Correa as the top free agent of the 2021-22 class.
As for Boras, he's long been one of the most powerful figures in all of MLB. His current client list includes the likes of Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Corey Seager, and Gerrit Cole -- all of whom have signed big free-agent contracts in the recent past. As well, Boras also represents Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, Correa's longtime teammates in Houston.
Whenever the owner lockout ends and the offseason resumes, Correa is expected to be hotly pursued by a number of teams -- the Cubs, Yankees, and perhaps Braves among them.
