Yes, Correa waived his no-trade clause and agreed to go back to Houston. But the narrative that he somehow betrayed the Twins or abandoned the team doesn’t hold up. From everything we’ve seen reported, it wasn’t Correa who initiated this move. The front office approached him, not the other way around. He didn’t walk into Rocco Baldelli’s office and ask out. He didn’t demand anything. He was presented with an option to join his former team, the defending champs, in first place, and he agreed. In the middle of a fire sale, after watching other teammates be shipped out, and after ownership slammed the door on the season and turned the lights off, he simply agreed to participate in the exodus.

So why are fans acting like he’s the villain?

We can’t talk about Correa’s time in Minnesota without starting with October 2023. The Twins hadn’t won a playoff game in 19 years. The narrative of futility was entrenched. Then came Correa, signed in large part because of his postseason track record, and he delivered precisely the performance the team had asked of him. Nine hits in 22 at-bats. Three doubles. Four RBIs. The game-winning hit in Game 2. The improvised throw home. The pickoff play that sealed the sweep. Those aren’t just memorable moments; they’re historic ones. The Twins finally broke the curse, and Correa was the driving force. Simply put, the Twins don’t beat the Blue Jays without Correa. He provided the October heroics that he was signed to deliver.

And then in 2024, he followed it up with a strong season, his best in a Twins uniform. Despite being limited to just 86 games because of injuries, Correa led the team in WAR at 3.7. He was the stabilizing force in the lineup when healthy, and even when banged up, he worked his way back late in the year, hoping to help the team reach the postseason again. He would’ve been in the lineup in October if the roster hadn’t crumbled around him.

Then came this year, and yeah, it’s been rough. This season has not been kind to him. He hasn’t looked right at the plate. But he was still out there every day, playing shortstop, doing his job, even as the season turned to dust. That has to count for something.

And let’s not forget, Correa chose the Twins—not once, but twice. The Twins weren’t his first choice, sure. But after the Giants and Mets backed out, he had options. He didn’t have to return to Minnesota. He could’ve gone elsewhere, but he chose this team. And he bought in. That’s not something Twins fans get from star free agents in Minnesota, and I think some fans have taken that for granted.

Look, I get it. Correa’s contract was massive. He was the highest-paid player in franchise history, and no, he didn’t deliver superstar production for 162 games each year. That’s fair to acknowledge. You can absolutely argue that he wasn’t worth the full price tag of that deal, but the postseason heroics in 2023 alone were incredibly valuable. He didn’t just show up when it mattered. He delivered in ways that ended 19 years of playoff misery. How do you even put a dollar figure on that?

Beyond that, do we really believe that if the Twins hadn’t signed Correa, that money would have gone somewhere else? We’ve all watched how the Pohlads operate. That money wasn’t going to another shortstop or a front-line starter. It would have gone right back into ownership’s pockets. Correa wasn’t blocking spending. He was the spending. Perhaps more precisely, he was what the front office thought would be the tip of the spear, with more weight behind it. If there’s a betrayal to talk about here, it’s the same one we’ve talked about all along, with a new victim: Ownership pulled the rug out from under the front office and flouted the fans’ trust by constricting the payroll after 2023, and that also double-crossed Correa himself.

Admittedly, Correa didn’t live up to every dollar. Most mega-contracts don’t. However, he gave the Twins something they hadn’t had in a generation: a postseason hero. For that alone, he deserves a better sendoff than this.

I’ll look back on Correa’s time in Minnesota fondly. He helped rewrite the story of this franchise. He brought a winning pedigree, big-game production, and stability to a position that had long been in flux. He was a leader, a clutch performer, and (in many ways) the face of a new era. That that era might now be defined by its shortcomings, rather than its successess, is the fault of many people, but Correa is low on the list.

I’m not going to burn his jersey. I’m not going to call him C-463. I’m going to remember the moments; the hits; the celebrations; and the joy of October 2023. I’ll wish him well, even in Houston.

What about you?