Carlos Correa Out for the Season After Tearing Ankle Tendon, Twins Lose Star Shortstop
The Minnesota Twins lost their best player for the year. Carlos Correa tore a tendon in his ankle and will undergo surgery, ending the shortstop’s 2026 season before the calendar even flips to June. The Twins announced the diagnosis Friday and the news has thrown the entire AL Central race into chaos.
This is the worst-case scenario for a franchise that has been waiting on Correa to be healthy enough to live up to his contract. He has been productive when on the field this year. The problem has always been getting him on the field.
Now he is off it for good in 2026.
The Injury
Correa rolled the ankle hard during a defensive play earlier in the week. Initial scans showed swelling and ligament involvement, but the team was hopeful that rest would shake it loose. The follow-up MRI confirmed a complete tendon tear. Surgery is required. Recovery will eat up the rest of the year and likely some of the offseason.
Ankle tendon injuries in baseball can be tricky to come back from at full strength. Correa’s defensive value depends on his lateral quickness. Whether he is the same defender in 2027 is a question nobody can answer yet.
What This Does to the Twins
The AL Central is the most beatable division in baseball, but the Twins are no longer the favorite. The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals are right there. The Cleveland Guardians are always lurking. The Twins were counting on Correa to anchor their lineup and stabilize their infield defense.
Royce Lewis can shift to shortstop, but he has had his own injury issues. Brooks Lee will probably get more reps at third. Edouard Julien might see time in the lineup as a regular. None of it adds up to a Correa-level production loss being papered over.
The Contract Question
Correa is signed through 2028 with vesting options that depend on health. This injury complicates that contract structure in a real way. If he cannot rebuild his defensive value, the contract is going to look like one of the worst deals in baseball within two years.
The Twins have been here before with Correa. He has a complicated medical history that has scared off multiple teams in free agency. The shoulder concerns. The plantar fasciitis. The wrist issue from a few years ago. Now the ankle. He is 31, and his body is starting to take losses he cannot easily come back from.
What the Twins Should Do
The smart play is to sell at the deadline. Move a few veterans on expiring contracts, get prospects back, and reset the timeline for 2027. The Twins were probably going to be wildcard contenders at best. Without Correa, they are not even that.
The harder play is to stay competitive, hope Lewis and Lee can produce, and try to hold on for the division by default. That works only if the Tigers and Royals stumble. Detroit looks too talented for that.
Bottom Line
Correa is one of the best players in the American League when healthy. The Twins are a different team without him. Their playoff path just got narrow, and their offseason planning just got complicated.
Get well, Carlos. The Twins need you in 2027.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
