New Predictions from Local, National Outlets Have Cubs Landing Carlos Correa

You have already heard more than enough about how the Cubs are looking for a shortstop and how that search will be governed by their desire to spend intelligently, so I’m going to assume you don’t need a refresher. Even though evidence points toward Xander Bogaerts being a better philosophical fit given what we have seen and heard so far, a lot of folks keep saying Carlos Correa is the name to watch.

That includes two recent predictions, the combination of which might mean something.

Gordon Wittenmyer has been on the Cubs beat for a long time now and he’s familiar with the personalities and machinations of the front office. Jim Bowden is a former MLB GM whose coverage for The Athletic I can’t say I like unless it involves free agent contract projections. Like them or not, and I do like Gordon, it’s hard to dismiss when we see that both of them have the Cubs landing Correa with a deal much longer than the Cubs’ presumed threshold of five or six years.

Wittenmyer posits that the Cubs have to make a significant addition to the middle infield and notes that they have loved Correa since a pre-draft workout 10 years ago. He then presents the idea of a nine-year, $290 million contract that would add to the $35.1 million Correa earned with the Twins to push the shortstop just past Corey Seager‘s $325 million deal with the Rangers over the same 10 years.

As part of a list of 25 offseason predictions, Bowden has the Cubs shocking everyone with a 10-year, $327 million contract for Correa. Many of the other 24 bullets are of the bold variety and can’t be taken all that seriously, so I’d say it’s best to approach this with caution. Still, it’s very interesting that the narrative about the Cubs not spending big that developed at the outset of the GM Meetings seems to have been debunked.

Jesse Rogers was one of the people really pushing the idea that the Cubs were not going to meet the market for either shortstops or starting pitchers, but he started walking that back quickly. Adding these latest ideas to what Scott Boras said about the Cubs last week might even be enough to get your hopes up that they really will do what it takes to compete in 2023.

Wouldn’t that be something?

Before you go feeling too optimistic, however, consider that G-Dub has Koudai Senga going to the Giants, José Abreu to the Astros, and Willson Contreras to the Cardinals. He also has the Cubs landing Cody Bellinger after the former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP is non-tendered by the Dodgers.

Adding Correa and Bellinger would address some of the Cubs’ issues, but they still need more pitching and a catcher. Having Abreu as a DH/1B/leader sure would be nice as well. So where are we at on this, readers? Do the Cubs have the appetite to make a blockbuster deal or will they try to stick to getting something done on their terms?