Carlos Correa-Giants-Mets bombshell makes Aaron Judge’s return to Yankees even better

Pour one out for San Francisco Giants fans this offseason. Not just a sip, the entire bottle. How bad can we really feel, though? This team has won three World Series since 2010. While that’s much better than the New York Yankees simply re-signing Aaron Judge, you have to admit, that move feels pretty damn good right about now.

Because on Tuesday, the Giants postponed their introductory press conference with Carlos Correa, who agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract last week. Per reports, a “medical concern” arose during his physical.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle claims it has nothing to do with Correa’s back, which had been a previous health issue attached to the slugger.

Regardless, the concern must have been fairly serious if the team was willing to call off the presser (and corresponding radio interview) for the second-biggest MLB free agency signing of the offseason. Either that, or Steve Cohen’s voice was extremely loud — because, overnight, Correa stunned the world and flipped his loyalties to the NEW YORK METS for one fewer year and $315 million.

Meanwhile, Judge’s presser will take place on Wednesday in the Bronx, less than a week after the Yankees signed Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $162 million contract — a free agent they swiped from … the Giants!

Carlos Correa and the Giants have a contract issue. The Yankees and Aaron Judge do not.

And a sick, twisted, demented sect of Yankees Twitter wanted a Correa signing to accompany Judge’s return — an opinion that would’ve been amplified whether Elon Musk had taken over Twitter or not.

Or, better yet, some unruly fans anticipating Judge’s departure were gleefully penciling Correa into the starting shortstop spot for the 2023 season, claiming the Yankees could potentially have a brighter future and better optimize their World Series window.

That’s fandom for ya. A disease. One that permeates the brain and affects all thoughts, memory and speech. 90% of fans suffer from “acute, deranged fandom.”

Correa was never, at any point, a Yankees fit. Not with what happened with the 2017-2019 Astros. Not with his durability issues coupled with the expected length of his blockbuster contract. Not with the presence of Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza. Not with the Yankees’ first choice for an additional $300 million contract clearly being Judge.

Also … what happened to everyone laughing at the Yankees for signing Judge, entering his age-31 season, to a nine-year contract? All those rival fans calling it a bad deal because it’ll take an “already injury-prone” Judge through his age-39 season?

On top of Judge being an objectively better player than Correa, the Yankees star has missed a total of 162 games since becoming a full-time player in 2017. Correa, since his debut as a full-timer, has missed 241 games (and he’s three years younger than Judge!), and that’s after missing just nine in his first two seasons.

Had the Yankees been dealing with a snag in the final stages of the free agent process with Correa after losing Judge, you could already write a novella on the tension this would be causing in the Bronx and the toxicity it would birth on social media.

All the best to Correa and his health, as well as the Giants and their eventual baseball endeavors, but let this be a reminder that the Yankees had the right plan the entire time, and that even a Correa complementary signing to Judge would’ve been more of a distraction than anything.