AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 6, 2023

Carlos Correa

Minute Maid Park

Minnesota Twins

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Carlos, welcome back. Can you tell me tomorrow, when you go onto the field at Minute Maid Park, what are the emotions going to be like, especially you playing so many postseason games here in Houston?

CARLOS CORREA: Obviously great memories here. Right now I'm trying to build new memories with my team, with the Minnesota Twins. When we take the field, it's a battle out there. So we're going to go out there and fight, and may be best team win.

Q. Hi, Carlos. Obviously you've had a lot of big games here throughout the regular season and particularly in the postseason. How much do you embrace coming up in these big moments? Is it going to feel a little bit weird doing it for the other team here?

CARLOS CORREA: I really enjoy it. Playoff baseball is the best type of baseball. Last year, not being able to play meaningful games in October, it didn't feel right.

I told my wife, I said, I never want to miss the playoffs ever again, and this year we're back at it. We got one series down, and we've got to keep climbing. Obviously this series is special. It's against my former team, and I'm very excited. We're ready to go.

Q. Carlos, how much contact, if any, have you had with guys on the Astros, your friends that are still over there?

CARLOS CORREA: No contact at all the past couple of days. So when we won, I got some congratulations text messages. I said thank you, and I said I'll get back to you guys after the series.

Q. So that was intentional?

CARLOS CORREA: What do you mean?

Q. You kind of intentionally wanted to avoid talking to them, or did that just kind of --

CARLOS CORREA: No, we'll be friends again after this series. Right now, we're both teams focused on winning this series. It's an important one.

Q. I want to ask you about Altuve. He still gets booed pretty loudly on the road for something you guys said he didn't have a big role in. Do you think that fans are sort of missing out on one of this generation's great players and a guy who should be a great ambassador to the game just with the way he plays the game?

CARLOS CORREA: Absolutely. They boo him, but I feel like it's the entertainment for the fans to just go out there and do that. But at the same time, they're enjoying what he's doing on the field, and they appreciate his talent.

He's going to be a Hall of Famer one day. There's no doubt about that. He's special. He's helped this organization get to the two championships that they've won, and he's been a big part of everything that's been accomplished here in Houston.

It's tired by now so many years after that happened it still happens, but at the same time, I think he doesn't care anymore. I think he performs even better when people do that. He's a guy that has great character. Nobody has anything bad to say about him, only great things. He's definitely one of the best players we've ever seen.

Q. (Question in Spanish)?

CARLOS CORREA: He asked me when I was sent to Minnesota, if I ever saw myself coming back here facing the Astros. I said, yeah, when I signed with Minnesota, I knew that for us to get to a World Series at some point would have to beat the Astros.

We're here right now in this moment. It's a very big series, and I feel our team is ready to go. We've got the talent to compete against anyone, and it's going to be a good one. You guys are going to have fun.

Q. (Question in Spanish).

CARLOS CORREA: (Answer in Spanish).

Q. Carlos, they could have resigned you after '21. Is there any motivation for you in this series to show them that they should have?

CARLOS CORREA: I don't hold on to the past. I keep moving forward in life. I'm looking at the present moment right now, and the present moment is that I'm a Minnesota Twin. I couldn't be happier to be with this great organization, and I'm ready to represent them and go out there and win a championship for them.

Q. Carlos, how much have you been able to swing the bat since Tuesday? How's the hand?

CARLOS CORREA: The hand is great. No issues at all. I got lucky there. It was obviously 99, hit me pretty good. X-rays were negative. So if they're negative, we're good to go.

Q. Last year in the playoffs you were interviewing Jeremy Peña on TV, now you're playing against a guy that you worked to mentor. What is that relationship with you guys like? And what's it going to be like to play against a guy that you sort of helped get to this point?

CARLOS CORREA: The relationship with all of them has always been great. He grew up through the organization just like I did, and I had Altuve teach me the ropes, then he had me. It's just going to keep going on and on because the great coaches they have in the Minor League system, they're going to keep developing great talent.

I'm hoping that one day he will do the same for another player that's coming up with a bright future. But right now, when we cross those lines, there's no relationship at all. There's just win or lose. I want to make sure my team is on the winning side.

Q. Carlos, two years ago, your first trip back, it was a celebration, a video, and a standing ovation. This year some people were surprised that you heard some boos. I want to ask you what that felt like. Also, since it's playoff baseball, what do you expect the reaction to be this weekend?

CARLOS CORREA: To be honest, I didn't notice the boos at all. I guess I'm too locked in in the game, or I guess I get booed on the road everywhere I go. So it doesn't feel any different. I guess I'm used to it by now.

Yeah, I didn't even notice. If you would have not mentioned it, I would have not known.

This series is going to be a good one. I don't know what it's going to be like tomorrow from the fans, but I told you already my focus is on the game and winning those games.

Q. You said this current Minnesota team reminds you of the 2015 Astros. That was your first year in the playoffs. Getting to be in that moment as well, what can you compare those two teams and the young talent that the Minnesota Twins have right now?

CARLOS CORREA: In '15, I made my debut with Lance and some of the other guys. There was a veteran presence already of Altuve, Marwin, Springer was there on his second year. And you can compare those guys to Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, Eddie Julien, who is an on-base machine, and those young guys are coming up and having success right away to help the veterans complement the team and get to where we want to be.

The reason why I say that is because in '15, nobody gave us a chance, and we got to the playoffs. We had a great Wild Card game, then we went on and had a great series against the team that won the championship. From then on, everybody started believing that we belong.

I feel like, now that we've already kicked the monkey off our back of never winning a playoff game in Minnesota, yada yada, we win a game, we win a series, now everybody in the clubhouse starts believing, the fans start believing, the coaches start believing, and now we have something special we're building. We're trying to build on that and move forward from then.

I feel like the young players are going to be here for a long time. I've got five more years at least. Bux and Royce, all those guys are going to be here for a while. So we can build something really special.

Q. (Question in Spanish).

CARLOS CORREA: (Answer in Spanish).

Q. I know you're focused on Minnesota and your team, but is Houston always going to be a special place for you considering everything you did and went through here?

CARLOS CORREA: There's no doubt. Every time I come here in the off-season, the fans, they treat me like one of their own still. I went to eat last night, and all the Astros fans are wishing me good luck. I'm like, are you sure you want to wish me good luck?

(Laughter).

Then I went to eat breakfast this morning, and everyone's wish wishing me good luck. Obviously the fans still appreciate everything I did for this city. They love me and my family, which always feels great. Yeah, I'm appreciative of the good luck charms they're sending my way.

Q. Carlos, you mentioned how difficult it was to watch the playoffs last year and not be involved. Can you paint the picture of what it was like to watch these guys? Were you texting them? Were you just removed? How was it to watch your protege win the ALCS and the World Series MVP and your guys win?

CARLOS CORREA: It was great. It was awesome. I felt proud of the accomplishments of Peña, obviously coming off the first season, winning a Gold Glove, and then going off in the playoffs and having two great series. That was awesome.

But I was also happy for Maldonado winning his first championship. He's a great friend of mine. Then Altuve being able to go out there and win another championship after everything he's been through.

And all the guys on the team that I pretty much grew up with throughout the whole Minor League system and during my Big League career there.

So I feel very happy for them. They had their fun now. So hopefully now it's our time.

Q. I asked Dusty about you, and he said, I'm not going to say a lot of nice things because he's on the opposing team, but he said, he's still one of my all time favorite players and one of my wife's all time favorite players. What does that mean to you when your former manager says that?

CARLOS CORREA: It means everything. Actually, my wife brought it up this morning with teary eyes to me, what Dusty said about me. It truly means a lot. Dusty is a man that I respect so much. As a manager, he was always great to me. We built a great relationship.

His wife, every time I would walk back to the car, she would be in the parking lot waiting for him, and we would have some great conversations. So obviously it was a relationship way more than just player-manager. He was like another father figure for me.

So it was special when I was around him, all the stories, all the advice I picked up from him. But like he said, now we got to face each other. I'll be his son after the series is over once again.