In the winter of 2022, Carlos Correa agreed to a $350 million deal with San Francisco and a $315 million deal with New York, and both evaporated over a microscopic concern from a decade-old surgery. His career operates like a pendulum swinging between the highest highs and the most bizarre lows.

This deep dive traces his path from a hurricane-battered Puerto Rican fishing village, where his whole town funded his talent, to one of the most physically gifted and polarizing athletes of his generation.

• Became the first overall pick in 2012, the highest-drafted player out of a Puerto Rican high school.
• Suffered a 2014 fibula fracture requiring a metal plate, the medical footprint that later scared off suitors.
• Won 2015 Rookie of the Year, then helped win the 2017 title later tainted by the sign-stealing scandal.
• Won the 2021 Platinum Glove using a jump-hop technique that channeled his 6-foot-4 frame into cannon throws.
• Traded back to Houston in 2025 with Minnesota eating $33 million, then tore an ankle tendon ending his 2026 season.