Two-time All-Star Carlos Correa hasn't completely closed the door on returning to the Houston Astros. 

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Correa is still in contact with the Astros as he continues to explore offers in free agency.

Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston reported on Nov. 6 that Houston proposed a five-year, $160 million contract to the Puerto Rico native.

It's unclear if the Astros have changed that offer in subsequent talks with Correa. 

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman previously acknowledged the team has met with representatives for "most" of the top free-agent shortstops, including Correa's. 

The Detroit Tigers, who are managed by former Astros skipper A.J. Hinch, were rumored to have interest in Correa. However, they agreed to a six-year, $140 million deal with Javier Baez on Tuesday, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

The market for elite shortstops has exploded over the past nine months. Fernando Tatis Jr. set the first benchmark when he signed a 14-year extension with the San Diego Padres worth $340 million in February. 

Francisco Lindor surpassed that in April with a 10-year, $341 million extension from the New York Mets. 

On Monday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Corey Seager agreed to a 10-year, $325 million deal with the Texas Rangers. 

Correa has a strong argument that he's the best player among this quartet. The 27-year-old ranks third among all qualified shortstops in FanGraphs wins above replacement (25.1) since 2015, behind Lindor (32.1) and Xander Bogaerts (31.4). 

Among all shortstops with a minimum of 2,000 plate appearances since 2015, Correa ranks fourth in on-base percentage (.356) and fifth in slugging percentage (.481). He was an elite defender in 2021 with 20 defensive runs saved, earning his first career Gold Glove award. 

Correa has shown himself to be more durable over the past two seasons with just 16 games missed after sitting out a total of 192 games from 2017-19 because of injuries. 

No team knows Correa as well as the Astros. They selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. He was named AL Rookie of the Year in 2015 and helped the franchise win the World Series in 2017.