It’s rare to see a baseball transaction with such a perfect match between timing and substance.
The timing was around 2 a.m. on Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla., the spring training home of the Twins, an early morning hour on the first weekend of March Madness, when baseball news had slowed to a crawl and fresh rumors had not surfaced in hours. The substance was an opt-out-laden, three-year, $105.3-million deal between the Twins and Carlos Correa. Which means that, yes, the best free agent in baseball—originally expected to end up with a long-term deal or, at the very least, with a big-time contender—had chosen a quirky contract structure with a team no one saw coming.