6:38pm: The Pirates have put a high price tag on Correia, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
5:40pm: Right-hander Kevin Correia, who lost his rotation spot to the newly acquired Wandy Rodriguez, has asked the Pirates for a trade, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The 31-year-old Correia has pitched to a 4.24 ERA with 4.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a solid 51 percent ground-ball rate entering play today. Correia is making $3MM in the final season of a two-year, $8MM deal that he signed with the Pirates in December of 2010.
General manager Neal Huntington said that the plan for Correia is to work out of the bullpen for now, but he predicts Correia will be used for some spot starts down the line. Huntington did acknowledge that a move to the bullpen could damage Correia's free agent value this offseason. Huntington went on record as saying the team is open to trading Correia, but only if it makes the Major League team better.
Biertempfel writes that the Pirates are still looking for an upgrade at a corner outfield spot, first base, or shortstop as well as bench help. Several teams are searching for starting pitching, including the Orioles and Braves, although it's not clear that buyers would view Correia as an upgrade to their current options. Correia made his first relief appearance today and allowed four runs on five hits and a walk in just two innings, which certainly doesn't make him any more attractive to other teams.
there is your major league starter Twins ; ;
Good, I hope this messes with Pitt’s team chemistry
he was arguably their worst starter this year if you’ve watched any of their games. if anything, keeping him around will ruin their chemistry down the road.
He sounds like one hell of a “team first” guy with this demand…
not saying he’s a dugout cancer or anything, just saying that the last thing this young Pirates team needs is a player who doesn’t want to be there. it affects the mood of the team.
This guy is a stiff starter 4.2 in the national league = a near 5 era in the American League which = Garbage Starter JMHO.
no argument here. he was one of their worst starters (which i pointed out in my original reply). my point is that keeping him around when he doesn’t want to be here (since being moved to the bullpen) could affect the attitude of the rest of the players.
That was my thought as well. A starter can get hurt at any time, and then you’re back in the rotation down the stretch contending for a playoff spot.
not saying he’s a locker room cancer or anything, but i’m just saying that if someone wants out, keeping him around affects the attitude of the rest of the team.
sorry but anyone who wishes ill on the pirates run this season is simply a poor sport.
Or a team competing against them…
Pretty sure the Pirates have already been trying to unload him. He has no room to be getting uppity with what he has given them for the past few years.
Solid number five in most rotations.
Maybe even #4 with those numbers.
He has a collective 0.1 WAR over his last 407.1 IP. He really isn’t good at all.
Actually war isn’t everything.
Good joke and all but in this case, its pretty indicative of his actual value.
His K rate is underwhelming, his walk rate isn’t that much better, and his homer rate is high, so he’s been very much replacement level.
Please explain why Correia is better than his WAR indicates…
war!! what is it good for?
Evaluating players, duh 😛
Correia is not good enough to ask for a trade
hes a major leaguer, hes good enough.
I guess starting for a bad team is more important than helping out of the bullpen for a good one?
I understand what you’re saying, Karkat. But as the article points out, Correia is in the last year of his contract, and being moved to the pen is bad for his free agent marketability. I don’t exactly blame him for being ticked off about that.
I think his ERA+ of 76 over the past 3 years will hurt him more.
I know you don’t blame him, but I do. It’s kind of ridiculous to ask to be traded from a team that looks like they’re headed to the playoffs for the first time in two decades. If he’s worried about his value, a move to the bullpen can only help him, because he sure hasn’t been a very effective starter for the last three years. Seriously…if your favorite team needed to sign a free agent starting pitcher, would you hope for Kevin Correia? Not even Houston, Colorado, or Minnesota fans would clamor for that.
This was mostly my thought. Correia strikes me as somehow who very well may NOT be aided by getting 10 more starts in this year. Showing flexibility and going “hey look I was decent starting” is going to be a better selling point than “I was pretty decent throughout my first 20 starts but um please don’t look at my August and September starts…”
Taking one for the team and going to the bullpen isn’t going to do one darned thing for Correia in free agency. And frankly, I don’t think that the fact that he’s asked to be traded from the Pirates in their first good playoff chase in decades matters either. If he wants to be a starter (and get paid like a starter) moving forward, he needs to be a starter somewhere.
Know what else is bad for his FA marketability? Not being better than Eric Bedard
Haha, nice one 8mile. But keep in mind that even lesser athletes take pride in their craft.
I bet he’s sitting at home right now, polishing his Cy Young awards, waiting to be traded.
so you have to be a winner of multiple Cy Young awards to want to be traded because of the role you have on the team? got it.
Well, a SP with an ERA+ of 80 in his last 5 seasons are always in high demand. Particularly when they are making $3 million a year.
To put his greatness into perspective, there are 63 SP that have at least 700 IP in the last 5 seasons. Kevin is 63rd in WAR in that period. He’s that good. He essentially defines Replacement Level.
maybe a trade to the twins for Chris Parmelee i know Parrmelee is good friends with G.Jones. Chris could help at 1b but its just a thought
Right. The Twins are going to trade five years of one of their Top 5 prospects and only advanced Minor League hitters for 2 months of a guy who might net them an extra win in what could be a 100-loss season.
I swear, do people even think before they suggest these things?
You lost me when you claimed Parmalee as one of the Twins top 5 prospects. Who do you put him ahead of out of Buxton, Rosario, Sano, Arcia, and Hicks?
Valid. Top 10 is a better description. It doesn’t change the absurdity of the proposal.
Did you just call Chris Parmelee a top 5 Twins prospect? A 1B without much power and who cannot hit left handed pitchers isn’t a great profile.
I still wouldn’t trade him for Correria, but he’s not even a top 12 twins guy.
Good for him. I would be pissed too to have a guy come in and push me to the bullpen. Send him back to the Padres, we’ll take him
No, no we won’t.
I bet you’d make one heck of a great teammate.
Deal to twins. Now that lirianao is gone they could use an innings eater
Would be a great pick up for orioles…could help struggling rotation and wont have to give up much
maybe correia and another piece to orioles for reynolds.
Correia for Choo choes. lol.
This is most likely a fail ;c
Maybe Justin M. to the Pirates,Kevin Correia to Red Sox and one of Boston’s OF to MInnesota?
Willingham, Span and Revere are all actually having pretty nice seasons. The Twins don’t really have an OF need.
The Twins are trying to trade Span for pitching. They are not trying to add more OFs at the expense of their 1st basemen.
Oh, so now instead of a pack of gum they want a bucket of balls.
Thats smart. Lets demote someone to the pen and then ask for a high return in trading him when he is a FA after the season. Is Huntington on crack?
…because he would have been better off saying, “Please! Somebody take him! We’ll take anything!”
Why not ask for a lot two days before the deadline? Maybe somebody will be foolish enough to pay it. If nothing else, maybe they get still get more than they should when they lower their asking price. Makes more sense to start high and work your way down than the other way around.
There’s something about “demoted to bullpen” and “high price tag” that doesn’t mesh.
“The Pirates have put a high price tag on Correia, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).”
Since when was Correia code for “valuable major league starter”?
Corner outfielder you say? How’s Jason Bay for Correia straight up sound?
The Pirates have put a high price tag on Correia, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports
Baaaaaahahahahaha
Correia is valuable insurance for the Pirates right now. With McDonald struggling since the break, Karstens still in injury-return mode, and Bedard as questionable as any starter in baseball, Correia is one turn away from another rotation run. Lincoln is not going back in there, he has proven that he is 110% more effective in relief. Bucs just traded Rudy Owens, who was the most ready AAA starter, next in line is Jeff Locke, who got lit up last September in the bigs.
All season, Correia has been a part of a tight-knit pitching staff, and it showed by the way he always sat with and talked to the other off day starters in the dugout. He gets ousted to the pen after a trade for a top-notch starter, knows he is the next guy up if an injury occurs, and he starts moping around. He’s still a major league pitcher on a club that is leading the NL Wild Card race, this shows that he is not a reliable roster veteran.
Huntington knows that Correia is more valuable in Pittsburgh than he would ever be as a trade candidate. They have been shopping him all season, so its not as if the Pirates don’t know his market value. Unless some team grossly overpays for an average ML starter, Correia stays put. Since the odds of that happening are slim, I’d say he better get used to his role and enjoy a playoff chase.
Yeah the Pirates would be smart to trade him now. At least get a decent fielder or prospect in return before he ends up mad that he isnt a starter and starts ruining the team chemistry or something. So please do the Pirates organization a favor and trade him like he wants, Please Huntington trade him.
Huntington is asking for TWO bags of baseballs and a water cooler. That is asking a lot.
LOL typical asking for the moon.
I demand to be traded too! Correia is only slightly better than me.
Correia demading to be traded is one of the funniest things I have ever heard…
A high price for Kevin Correia would be a can of corn
what if NH does not like corn…
While Correia has certainly been more lucky than good this year, I do believe the Pirates could manage to get something halfway decent back for him.
Francisco Liriano: 3-10, 5.31 ERA, 1.98 SO/BB, 1.440 WHIP
Kevin Correia: 8-6, 4.24 ERA, 1.67 SO/BB, 1.274 WHIP
It’s a seller’s market this year – so might as well start with a high asking price. In the end though, I’ll take anything the Pirates can get for him
Come on Sandy New left fielde
Ship them Bay
Correia has value to the Bucs as a long reliever and a spot starter. Plus, there’s no guarantee that the current 5 members of the rotation stay healthy. The Pirates have no incentive to trade Correia. It’s time for him to act like a professional and handle the demotion to the pen. He should have been prepared for this. If Morton was injured he’d have been in the pen months ago.
Correia and Tabata for Choo. He would have more value staying in Pitt as a spot starter. For a seemingly marginal guy, he is on a Pirates team with a chance to make the playoffs, and came from that Padres team that missed a playoff spot on the final day. He does have value.