Pirates to sign Kevin Correia

Via Jerry Crasnick: 

Correia was drafted by the Giants in 2002 and had an up and down career with them before being non-tendered after the 2008 season. He signed with the Padres and had a great year in Petco in 2009. He struggled a bit in 2010, but it’s worth noting that his brother died unexpectedly in a hiking accident early in the summer and dealt with the aftermath during much of the season. 

It’s also worth noting that his FIP and xFIP were both better than his ugly ERA in 2010, though, and he had the best strikeout rate and groundball rate of any full season in his career in 2010. Despite having a good groundball rate and a lower flyball rate as a result, he gave up a bunch of home runs, which seems like a fluky result in Petco. He’s not an ace by any means, but he should at least give the Pirates some solid innings over the next two years. 

He turned 30 in August and so the two-year, $8 million deal seems reasonable, but I am a bit concerned how he’ll do out of the pitcher-friendly parks of the NL West. Still, he was a markedly better pitcher in San Diego (his groundball rate went up as he relied much less on his fastball and more on his curve and slider) and he’s certainly a serviceable big leaguer. He’s probably immediately the second or third best starter in the Pirates rotation depending on which Ross Ohlendorf shows up on any given night. That doesn’t say much, of course, but he makes them better, so it seems like a decent move for the Pirates at this price even if it’s far from exciting.