The Houston Astros made one of the more interesting moves of a very active trade deadline when they landed Carlos Correa in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. It's an incredible move, and it's thanks in large part to owner Jim Crane.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Astros owner hopped on the phone with Twins chairman Joe Pohlad and helped convince him to take the deal. It was a long conversation, according to Nightingale, but at the end of the day, it worked out.
"Owner Jim Crane, knowing the Twins are more than $400 million in debt, took over." Nightengale writes. "He called Twins chairman Joe Pohlad and let him know that he could take a big financial burden off his hands by moving Correa."
With the Twins, reportedly, over $400 million in debt, moving off the $103 million remaining owed to Correa would help lighten such a burden. But, Houston wasn't going to take on all of that contract, initially demanding the Twins take on half.
After Crane and Pohlad continued talking and discussing the financials of such a huge deal, a trade was agreed to, and the Astros landed their new third baseman, reuniting with Correa, and securing one of the best deals of the deadline.
MORE: Astros agree to blockbuster trade with Twins for Carlos Correa
"By the end of the day," Nightengale writes, "the Twins agreed to send Correa to Houston, pay $33 million of his remaining contract, and got only minor league lefty Matt Mikulski in return."
Mikuslski is a 26-year-old minor leaguer who is pitching in Single-A and is a ways from making an MLB impact. To send just Mikulski for Correa is a massive coup for the Astros, even if it means taking on $70 million of his remaining contract.
As Nightengale put it, "At the end of the day, no one obtained more talent and gave up less than the Astros."
Houston made out like bandits. Thanks to Crane's convincing Pohlad, amid the Twins' reported $400 million-plus debt, the Astros were able to land Correa for very cheap to be their third baseman for the next three seasons.
With the cheap price of Mikulski, the Correa trade was effectively the Astros' signing of Correa to a three-year, $70 million deal. Houston is reuniting with a franchise icon, and it's thanks in part to the Twins being over $400 million in debt.
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