The Houston Astros reacquired Carlos Correa in a shocking blockbuster deal with the Minnesota Twins just before the MLB trade deadline Thursday.
Correa, a Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star in his prior stint with the Astros, waived his no-trade clause in order to make the deal happen. He has also agreed to play third base, sharing the left side of the infield with Jeremy Pena.
“I had some conversations with the front office in Minnesota, and we were not moving [the direction] I thought we were after making the playoffs [in 2023],” Correa told MLB.com on Thursday, “and they agreed with me that it was time to move me.
“I let them know there was only one team I would allow that to happen.”
The Astros went into the trade deadline prioritizing a left-handed hitter and a starter, but third baseman Isaac Paredes could miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury, prompting them to get aggressive in a trade for Correa. Moments later, their need for a left-handed hitter was also filled — in a deal to acquire outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the Miami Marlins.
Houston sent minor league left-hander Matt Mikulski to Minnesota in the Correa deal. The 26-year-old Mikulski, who most recently had been at Houston’s High-A affiliate in Asheville, has 245 strikeouts in 225 2/3 minor league innings.
The 30-year-old Correa is owed a combined $91.5 million from 2026 to 2028, with club options from 2029 to 2032, and sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney that the Twins, motivated to shed salary while in an ownership transition, will take on $33 million as part of the trade.
“This is a big move for the team, for the city, for where we’re going in the future,” Houston general manager Dana Brown said. “We feel like … he’s just going to bring a lot, not only as a player but as a human being — his leadership skills and the energy that he’s going to bring to this club. So I’m fired up.”
Miami’s return for Sanchez is right-hander Ryan Gusto, shortstop Chase Jaworsky — a top-10 prospect in Houston’s system — and outfielder Esmil Valencia.
A former No. 1 pick out of high school in Puerto Rico in 2012, Correa was one of the faces of an Astros team that won the World Series in 2017 and became the most successful American League franchise in recent years.
This year, though, Correa’s numbers are down. He is slashing .267/.319/.386 with seven home runs in 93 games.
This will be his first time playing third base in the majors, but he told MLB.com it’s something he had been looking forward to.
“I’ve been wanting to play third base for the past couple of years, but it wasn’t happening in Minnesota,” Correa said. “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.”
Sanchez, 27, has slashed .246/.312/.432 with 69 homers and 29 steals in 522 games with the Marlins from 2021 to 2025, during which he played mostly right field. He is controllable through 2027.
Brown said the Astros also pursued pitching but that the focus was improving their slumping offense since injured starters Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia are all close to returning.
“The asking prices for the arms seem to be pretty high,” Brown said. “And knowing that we had some arms coming back, we stuck with the bats and these bats, we feel like are going to make a pretty good impact on our offense, help us score some runs and win some games.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
