Twins send former All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa to Astros at MLB trade deadline

Two years after Carlos Correa signed the largest free-agent contract in Twins history, a $200 million deal over six seasons, he’s headed out the door to Houston.

The Twins traded Correa, the three-time All-Star shortstop, back to the Astros, his original team.

Correa approved the deal and waived his no-trade clause. He’s the 10th major league player traded by the Twins this week.

It’s a stunning deal that reshapes the core of the Twins’ roster. Correa is guaranteed $104 million over this year and the next three.

The Twins will pay $33 million of Correa’s remaining money. They will also get minor league lefthanded pitcher Matt Mikulski.

Correa, 30, is rejoining the Astros, his team for his first seven seasons, and he will play third base alongside his shortstop successor, Jeremy Peña. Correa still has a home in Houston.

In an interview with MLB.com, Correa said it was clear Minnesota wasn’t going in the direction he wanted and they agreed to find a trade.

“I’ve been wanting to play third base for the past couple of years, but it wasn’t happening in Minnesota,” Correa told MLB.com. “We were waiting for a shortstop to come in, and now that I get to play third base it would be great for me at this stage of my career.”

The Twins went 223-227 when Correa played, 219-224 when he started. He missed 144 games in that time, and the Twins were 75-69 without him.

In 450 games he hit 61 home runs, drove in 277 runs and had a .784 OPS.

Mikulski, 26, was drafted by the Giants out of Fordham in the second round (50th overall) in 2021. This season he has pitched for the Florida Complex League Astros and High-Class A Asheville, appearing in 12 games.

Correa was the top choice in the 2012 MLB draft, was the American League rookie of the year in 2015, and helped the Astros to the World Series championship in 2017.

The results have been mixed.

Correa played through plantar fasciitis in his left foot during the 2023 season, and he had one of his worst offensive seasons with a .230 batting average and .711 OPS in 135 games. The postseason was a different story. He was one of the heroes who helped the Twins win their first postseason series in 21 seasons with nine hits (three doubles) in six games while playing stellar defense as the Twins beat the Blue Jays and lost to the Astros.

He was named to the All-Star team in 2024, but he played only 86 games as he developed plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The Twins fell apart in the final six weeks of the season and missed the postseason.

This year, Correa is navigating another bad offensive season. He’s batting .267 but he hasn’t hit for as much power, generating a .705 OPS, which is way below his career norm (.817 OPS).

The Twins were having an ultra-busy deadline day.

As 5 p.m. arrived, the Twins also sent reliever Griffin Jax to Tampa Bay, a day after closer Jhoan Duran was dealt to the Phillies. And finally, reliever Louie Varland and first baseman Ty France went to the Toronto Blue Jays.