Once again, Carlos Correa is going to test the free agent market. And once again, the question is asked. Do the Tigers make a bid?

Earlier on Thursday, it was reported by El Nuevo Dia that Carlos Correa is going to opt out of his deal with the Minnesota Twins.

If you recall last season, the rumors started as early as August.  From there, it was a Jon Heyman report in October said Detroit was interested in the shortstop. Finally, it was an image of Correa having breakfast with manager A.J. Hinch and a Twitter personality saying Correa to Detroit was a “done deal” that Tigers fans were starting to believe the hype.

Correa hit .291/ .366/ .467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI in 136 games this season, with a bWAR of 5.4 with the Twins. He signed a 3 year / $105,300,000 contract that allows him to have a player opt out every season.

Some of the crew here at Woodward Sports are preparing for the heartbreak, again.

All jokes aside, here is the reality about Carlos Correa

Correa fits what the Tigers would target. He can walk, hit for power and play solid defense. The fans that would want this to happen would expect Javier Báez to move to second. However, if you look at the Baseball Savant stat Outs Above Average, Tigers second baseman Jonathan Schoop led the league in that category with 29. Baez posted a 2 while Correa was a -3. 

On the other hand, if you look at the stat on FanGraphs of Defensive Runs Saved, (DRS) Correa posted a 3 while Báez was a – 5. The reason why I mention Schoop is there has been a suggestion of moving Báez to second. Should Detroit move on from Schoop this off-season, then that is something to consider, but the problem is, the Tigers have so many other issues to address.  The “it’s not your money to spend, Chris Ilitch has the dough” cries will be heard. But there are other ways to spend the money and get the cliché “more bang for your buck.”

According to Mike Petriello of MLB.com, the difference between DRS and OAA is that DRS uses eye test via video scouting or zone based systems. For OAA, the statcast technology, he says gives the exact location where each fielder stands.  So depending on your school of thought, those are the differences.

The idea of pursuing Correa again does not seem aggressive, it’s just not realistic or even practical if Detroit sticks with Báez. For now, when it comes to Correa alerts on your phone, save yourself sometime and keep them mute, if you are a Detroit Tigers fan.

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