Jon Paul Morosi had the following tweet about Kevin Correia today.
At one point, there was talk of #Pirates listening on Kevin Correia. Hard to see that now. He’s a solid No. 5 starter for an NL contender.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 5, 2012
The message doesn’t really say that the Pirates aren’t shopping Correia anymore. It just says that it is hard to see Correia being shopped with the Pirates contending.
I agree with Morosi that Correia is a solid number five starter. Look around baseball at the fifth best starter in most rotations, and Correia’s numbers don’t look that bad — even if you’re like me and you only focus on his xFIP, rather than his ERA. However, Pirates fans have been spoiled with great pitching this year.
If Correia regressed to his xFIP numbers, and started putting up performances like a 4.77 ERA pitcher, there would probably be a call to replace him. That number may be good in comparison to what most number five starters are putting up around the league, but it isn’t good in comparison to the upside that alternative options can bring the Pirates.
The Pirates have three left-handers in Indianapolis who are all putting up good numbers. Justin Wilson, Rudy Owens, and Jeff Locke are all major league ready, and all have the upside greater than the upside Correia has.
I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to deal Correia. He would be a good depth option to have in the system. But I’ve been saying for a while that the Pirates have better options and they should turn to them. I’d rather see that happen, than wait for Correia to hit his regression and lose a few games, similar to what happened last year.
