Latest Carlos Correa rumor hints Yankees won’t be in his final two

We’ve been guaranteeing the New York Yankees won’t be signing Carlos Correa for quite some time, but some of you people just don’t get it.

Yes, we bought into the bluster at first when Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone all declared in unison that they weren’t afraid of adding Correa to their culture and wouldn’t be pressured by the fan base to stay away.

Then a full month went by without any free agent movement of any kind, and we remembered, “Oh, yeah, they’re just talking. Right.”

The once-robust shortstop market has now been whittled down to just Correa and Trevor Story, with Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Javier Baez all now off the board for the Bombers. Leaving this offseason with a shortstop vacancy has never been more embarrassing, and if the Yanks are going to dodge that disaster, they’ll either need to woo the ex-Rockie or find $350 million for the former Astros heel.

Count MLB insider Jon Heyman among the nonbelievers in Cashman stepping up to leap the market.

According to Heyman’s lockout-induced speculation, the two most likely finalists for Correa’s services are the Houston Astros (who’d have to climb significantly from their original offer) and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who’d be overcoming a Yankees-esque culture issue of their own.

Yankees Rumors: Will NYY lose out on Carlos Correa to the Dodgers or Astros?

According to Heyman’s musings (whether you believe them or not), the Yankees will be left out in the cold again here:

“Carlos Correa, the question has been is he going to get the most money, or is it going to be Seager? It will be very interesting to see. Houston is certainly still interested. They weren’t anywhere near it with their $160 million offer. I think the big question is could the Dodgers do it if they don’t don’t do Freeman? I thought they would only go for Seager, and if they didn’t get Seager, they have Turner there. But with Seager not there now, so much extra money that they’re not spending, you can’t rule out the Dodgers for Correa. Those would be my two thoughts for Correa right now: Houston or the Dodgers.”

Now, this would take an absolute about-face from the Astros or a realization from both parties that they’re better off together and should come to terms on an insane short-term overpay. It would also require the Dodgers locker room to forget about all the sneering and peacocking and outright cheating (say goodbye to a new Joe Kelly deal!).

Both of these teams would have to change their offseason narrative to make this work, and yet … it’s most likely that either of them would do it whereas that type of shift almost feels impossible for the Yankees.

It’s been a while since we’ve had our hearts broken reading a new Correa rumor, so this Heyman whimsy hasn’t gotten us down at all.

When the moment really hits, though, and the lockout lifts and insiders start tweeting lists of all the teams “still in” on Correa … and the Yankees aren’t mentioned at all, though? Yeah, that’ll be annoying all over again.

5 star free agents Yankees can sign when lockout ends

The New York Yankees offseason isn't completely dead. They will still have plenty of star players to choose from when the lockout ends.