Despite the New York Mets flagging the same issue on Carlos Correa’s physical, and the free-agent shortstop eventually signing a contract with the Minnesota Twins that guaranteed him $150 million less than his reported agreement with the Giants, Farhan Zaidi said Thursday he didn’t feel vindicated by the outcome of defining drama of baseball’s offseason.
“Not at all,” Zaidi said, speaking over Zoom. “I’m happy for Carlos. He’s one of the great players in the game. He seems happy with where he’s going. I think this whole situation was really unfortunate.”
Correa was introduced Wednesday in Minnesota, where he signed a six-year, $200 million contract, 29 days after his original 13-year, $350 million agreement with the Giants was first reported. He signed contracts with three different teams, worth a total of $865 million, after the Giants and Mets were both reportedly spooked by his right ankle, which he had surgically repaired as a minor leaguer.
While Zaidi confirmed again that the Giants had been in touch with Correa since his deal with the Mets fell apart, he reiterated that the Giants got the sense that Correa was focused elsewhere, which ended up being Minnesota.
Zaidi’s only regret was that the saga played out as publicly as it did.
“We have to run our process,” Zaidi said. “I frankly think probably too many words have been written and said about this situation already. In a perfect world, everything that happened over the past month would have happened behind closed doors and not in the public eye, which I think made things difficult, not just for him and his family but for other teams and people involved.”
Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, further stirred the pot at Correa’s news conference Wednesday, claiming the Giants and Mets relied on the same doctor to form their opinion on Correa’s health, which Zaidi took issue with.
“Scott is in a position where he has more latitude to speak publicly given who he is and who he represents,” Zaidi said. “We do not. But as I’ve spoken more generally, we have a lot of faith in our medical process, our medical people, their openness, willingness to seek outside opinions — multiple outside opinions — and I’ll just leave it at that.”
Zaidi has repeatedly reiterated his confidence in the Giants’ medical staff and his appreciation for their role in the process, which he acknowledged was “not a fun part of their job.”
“I know for any trainer, calling someone in the front office, whether it’s about an injury or a concern on a physical, that’s probably the least enjoyable part of their job,” Zaidi said. “I made sure to be communicating with our medical people that … I appreciated that.”
Ultimately, whether the Giants are proven right or wrong won’t be decided for years to come.
“The only vindication that you’re seeking and that we put any credibility in is being a good team on the field,” Zaidi said. “That’s our focus right now.”
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