Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking at free agent starting pitcher Kevin Correia. Rosenthal added “among others” which I take to mean the Pirates are looking at other starters.
Correia is a year removed from a strong season in the San Diego rotation, which saw him put up a 3.91 ERA in 198 innings, along with a 6.5 K/9, a 2.9 BB/9, and a 0.8 HR/9. He struggled in 2010, with a 5.40 ERA in 145 innings, along with increased walk and home run ratios. He managed a lot of ground balls (48.9%), and had a 4.19 xFIP, which was similar to his 2009 number (4.20). Correia probably wouldn’t break the bank, as he only made $3.6 M in his final arbitration year following his 2009 season, and based on his 2010 season, might not cost much more than $5 M a season.
Back in November I said that Correia could be one of the best values on the free agent market for starting pitchers. He would definitely be a better option than Scott Olsen, who the Pirates are close to a deal with.
