With Carlos Correa wanting a massive contract and the Houston Astros seemingly unwilling to throw money his way, how do fans view the situation?
Carlos Correa is one of the most talented players MLB has to offer right now. He’s a fan favorite with the Houston Astros and is widely beloved in the Bayou City for the way he produces and has helped elevate this franchise.
Correa has been a constant as the Astros have moved from being a lovable underdog to a juggernaut folks love to hate. He’s been a central figure in Houston making it to the World Series three times in five seasons. He was a star on the team that brought a championship to Houston.
So, do Houston fans want Correa to get a massive contract from the Astros? Well, it doesn’t seem like some would be upset if the Astros moved on from Correa.
In a poll run by Jake Kaplan of The Athletic, only 29.2 percent of responses indicated they wanted the Astros to pay Correa $300 million or more.
The remaining responses had other hopes for what Houston would do at shortstop. 31.3 percent of folks wanted Jeremy Pena to have a chance to get the starting job. 20.6 percent of folks were interested in a temporary fix until Pena was ready to go.
It seems like many people who responded would be okay if Correa would leave.
Carlos Correa free agency: Do fans want want the Houston Astros to give Correa the contract he wants?
There are some massive acknowledgements that must be made here.
Most importantly, there is almost no way the results in a poll in The Athletic is representative of what MLB fans at large think. The average MLB fan is 57 years old. While it’s not impossible for 57-year-old baseball fans to subscribe to The Athletic (it should probably be encouraged, actually), it seems unlikely that the audience for a niche digital media outlet would also be entirely similar to MLB’s audience.
To expect otherwise seems unreasonable.
More than likely, what the average baseball fan is getting information wise is coming directly from watching or listening to the game through a local broadcast. Beyond that, any information is probably coming from local TV news broadcasts, local sports radio shows, ESPN, MLB Network, or something like social media or message boards.
Despite the illuminating, enlightening, and brilliant content that comes from writers online (yours truly excluded here), the information probably isn’t happening with a digital media outlet. It’s hard to tell if 500 people is enough of a sample size to get beyond the biases that might be introduced from the audience targeted with this poll.
That said, a poll that generates responses from 500 people is still worth acknowledging.
A large portion of this fanbase likely wants Correa back and that can be seen in the poll results here. It could also probably be seen by simply asking Astros fans at sports bars what they want to see happen.
Some fans, such as Ricky Young of The Wild Feathers, fairly recently joked at a concert that Houston should sell the Texans to help pay for Correa’s contract. The joke hasn’t been an uncommon one.
It remains to be seen what Correa will end up doing or how the Astros would potentially move forward at shortstop should Correa end up elsewhere. It also remains to be seen as to how Astros fans would end up reacting to any decision the talented shortstop or their favorite MLB franchise make.