The Cubs met Carlos Correa at the Winter Meetings

Cubs had discussions with Carlos Correa During the past 24 hours, according to Bruce Levine from 670 Score. President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer and General Manager Carter Hawkins and Principal David Ross Everyone attended the meeting. Levine also notes that the team has had discussions recently with both of them Xander Bogaerts And the Dansby Swanson – The top two more stops remain after that Tria Turner He agreed to a deal with the Phillies.

Correa and Bogaerts in particular were both strongly linked to the Cubs in the off-season, and although it is not known whether or not they received an offer, Maddy Lee from the Chicago Sun-Times He relays information from Cubs media availability, Jed Hoyer, that the team has made multiple offers to free agents this winter, and that the team is very focused on free agency over trades right now.

In the wake of Turner exiting the board on an 11-year, $300 million deal, there sure seems to be a greater sense of urgency among teams seeking to sign one of the best free agents. The Cubs had long been speculated as a possible landing site for one of the “Big Four” (now the Big Three) shortstops. They’re a team with a lot of financial power that’s looking to make a splash and get back to winning ways, so using a rectangular free agent makes a lot of sense.

Correa only turned 28 in September, so he’s still young enough to be a long-term piece for a Cubs team that may not have all the chops they need to compete for a championship in 2023. Correa also comes with the added benefit of avoiding the draft. Choice of compensation, since he already received one last winter before signing his short-term deal with the Twins.

He also came off another elite season, one in which he had a deserved 4.4 fWAR with the Twins. He batted .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs for 140. He saw the defensive ratings drop, but he was still worth 3 defensive tackles, even though that was the lowest mark of his career.

MLBTR Anticipate a nine-year, $288 million deal for Correa, though in light of Turner’s deal with Philadelphia, it’s not hard to imagine Correa’s contract going north of the $300 million mark. The Cubs currently have an expected payroll of $127 million, per RosterResource, which, for a team that saw payrolls of more than $200 million recently, leaves plenty of room for Correa-sized additions and more.

Of course, Correa’s market is expected to be strong, the Twins are making a strong effort to re-sign him, and the Giants and other teams are likely to be interested. With that in mind, it only makes sense that the team would remain engaged with Swanson and Bogaerts as well. Levine reports that Chicago met with the Bogarts ten days earlier. Swanson is a year older than Correa, while Bogaerts is 30, and while both are elite players in their own right, it is likely that both will demand smaller commitments from Correa.

While there was a lot of talk about signing the Cubs One one of the best short stops, Mark Vinsand from MLB.com Reports that the team can sign off on two from shortstops. In this case, it would likely be the signing of Bogaerts and Swanson, rather than Correa and one of the other two, and that would be contingent on Bogaerts moving to third base. Needless to say, with the widespread interest in all three players, it will be difficult for the Cubs to win the bid for two of them, but it’s an interesting extra layer to consider.