Royce Lewis gained a mentor and a watch when Carlos Correa joined Twins

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Royce Lewis made two valuable gains when Carlos Correa signed with the Twins.

First was a mentor in Correa, arguably the best shortstop in baseball; he has a Gold Glove, All-Star appearances and a World Series ring to prove it.

Second was a Hublot watch, Correa's gift to Lewis for taking his No. 4 jersey (and potentially his shortstop position for the next three years).

Correa wore No. 1 with the Astros but professed Wednesday he wanted a "new chapter, new team, new number." Perhaps his agent, Scott Boras, suggested the actual digit so he could detonate this quote at the welcome news conference: "The Twins have a new explosive weapon, C-4."

Boras, Correa and Lewis are in something of a baseball love triangle, with Boras representing both the players, who were top picks in their respective drafts. Boras was actually the first person to call Lewis in the wee hours of this past Saturday morning to inform him of Correa's arrival.

The two players have actually become fast friends, even spotted practicing together Tuesday at the Twins spring training facility. Correa — whose three-year, $105.3 million contract has opt-outs over the next two seasons with Lewis the shortstop-in-waiting — said the two have been texting and talking baseball.

"He reminds me a lot of myself when I was in the minor leagues," Correa said, adding he told Lewis, "'There's some things that I know now that I wish I knew back then when I was in the minor leagues or when I was 20 years old. So I'm an open book. I'm here for you. Whatever you need, just ask me.'"

When news of Correa's signing broke, Lewis said he thought it was "a great idea," especially for himself as a 22-year-old who wants to "continue to gain some knowledge and wisdom" around top players like the 27-year-old Correa.

Lewis was unlikely to play in the big league this year anyway. He tore his ACL last offseason and hadn't played a game since March 2020 because of the pandemic as well.

"Really there's no vision of a blockade," Boras said. "There's actually a benefit when you can learn from a player like this who is basically in your generation but has experienced so much at a very young age, you can transfer that to Royce so that he can have that in his pocket going forward. It really, really brings a different level of understanding."

The Twins made their first round of cuts Wednesday, two weeks before opening day. The staff informed the six righthanded pitchers of the decision that morning, and there were no real surprises among the names.

The team optioned Jordan Balazovic, Ronny Henriquez, Cole Sands and Drew Strotman to Class AAA St. Paul. Blayne Enlow and Chris Vallimont were likewise transferred to Class AA Wichita.

There are now 53 players in camp, 19 of them nonroster. The Twins will need to pare that down to 28 for the April 7 season opener at home against Seattle.

"We feel prepared, but it does feel rushed because it's just, it's not typical spring training," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of making cuts after just a week and a half of camp. "We're used to the first couple of weeks of camp just being getting guys kind of comfortably back into shape. We can't really do that, with either our pitchers or position players."