Mariners to sign Kevin Correia to minor-league deal

The Mariners have agreed to sign Kevin Correia to a minor-league deal. A minor-league deal for a guy who last pitched for the Pirates three years ago would normally be the kind of thing I'd ignore or include in a notes post, but it's been a slow news day, and Kevin Correia is always good for a 500-comment debate about the Josh Fogg Theory.

Anyway, Correia is coming off a season in which he had a 5.44 ERA, although he's still somewhat similar to the guy who pitched for the Pirates -- he's still a few-true-outcomes pitcher who rarely strikes anyone out but walks batters even more rarely. He just gets fewer ground balls now, which is an issue for a pitcher who often seemed to be teetering on the edge of disaster even in his better seasons. It's great that the Pirates have moved from having Correia as a rotation mainstay to having Vance Worley and Jeff Locke compete for the fifth spot in their rotation. That said, Safeco Field will be a good place for Correia -- as Steve Adams points out in the link above, if Chris Young can have a good season there, maybe Correia can too, even if he only ends up pitching in long relief.