Mets consulted same doctor who Giants used for Carlos Correa ankle
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The Mets consulted with the same doctor who had provided the Giants with a negative assessment about Carlos Correa’s right ankle issue before the Mets pulled their own $315 million agreement with the star free agent shortstop, sources confirmed to The Post. The doctor’s initial evaluation had caused San Francisco to back away from its $350 million deal with Correa.
Correa, whose right ankle was surgically repaired in 2014 after he suffered an injury in the minors, revealed in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that the Mets and Giants used the same specialist to evaluate his ankle: noted ankle surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson.
After those two deals were scuttled, Correa wound up signing a $200 million, six-year deal with the Twins, the team he had played for in 2022 which stayed in touch with the star as the drama was playing out.
“The Giants used an ankle specialist who didn’t pass me,’’ Correa told The Athletic. “Then the Mets used the same specialist, who obviously wasn’t going to pass me. He had already given an opinion to another team about my ankle. He was not going to change that. He was going to stand by what he was saying, of course, because that is what he believed.’’
The Mets’ team doctor, Mark Drakos, a foot surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, consulted with Anderson, whose dire opinion about Correa’s ankle had caused the Giants to pull their offer. After that consultation, the Mets also backed away from their original agreement.
The Mets tried to rework the deal and were willing to guarantee Correa $157.5 million over six years, with the possibility of the other $157.5 million in the following six seasons.
Instead, Correa got the guaranteed $200 million from Minnesota with the potential to earn another $70 million in incentives if he hits plate appearance benchmarks by the end of the deal. The Twins are perhaps most familiar with Correa since he had multiple physicals with them.
It’s believed the Mets consulted other outside doctors, as well, as is typically the case regarding any significant contract.
Mets general manager Billy Eppler has declined comment regarding the Correa situation. HIPAA laws limit what teams can say publicly regarding medical situations.
People familiar with the Mets’ approach have said that while there’s no way to determine how long Correa’s ankle may hold up, they had concern about exactly how long that may be. Drakos examined Correa in the player’s two-day Mets physical, but it was an MRI exam that raised the concern.
Interestingly, according to both Correa and his agent, Scott Boras, he has not missed any days in the majors due to his right ankle, nor has he received any treatment for it. A metal plate had been inserted in Correa’s right ankle during his 2014 surgery. Correa did have an issue after a slide this past September, when he said he felt “numb” in the area after a slide, but he proved to be OK.
“One thing I learned through the whole process is doctors have differences of opinions,” Correa said at the press conference to reintroduce him in the Twin Cities.
Correa said in the interview with The Athletic that he was stunned the ankle became an issue.
“We did have other ankle specialists look at it and say it was going to be fine, orthopedists who know me, even the one who did the surgery on me,’’ Correa told the website. “They were looking at the functionality of the ankle, the way the ankle has been the past eight years. I’ve played at an elite level where my movement has never been compromised.’’
He added: “The one doctor that had never touched me or seen me or done a test on me, that was the one who said it wasn’t going to be fine.”
The shortstop said he felt confident enough in the contracts with both the Giants and the Mets that he reached out to several players with the teams after agreeing to the deals, including the Mets’ Francisco Lindor, who was going to stay at shortstop, with Correa shifting to third base.
“Then the thing with the physical happened with the Mets and Scott started talking about [contract] language with their lawyers,’’ Correa said. “That’s when it looked like the deal was not going to get done, because of certain things with the language that were impossible to accomplish.”
Despite the roller-coaster ride, Correa said he has no bitterness toward the Giants or the Mets, or the doctor who flunked him twice.
“Obviously, the doctors’ opinions give you an extra motivation to just go out there, perform and play out the whole contract in a beautiful way,’’ Correa said. “But proving to myself at the end of my career that all the work will pay off, that I was right, that’s all I honestly care about. There’s no hard feelings toward [the Giants’ and Mets’] organizations. There’s nothing but respect for them. Doctors have differences of opinion. That’s fine.”
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