Report: Correia to sign with Pirates

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick is reporting that the Pirates have come to an agreement on a two-year, $8 million deal with free agent starter Kevin Correia.

When asked if the report was accurate, GM Neal Huntington gave this response: “There is nothing official to report at the present time. We are engaged in conversation and are optimistic, but nothing has been finalized.”

It could be that only a physical stands in the way of the deal being done.

Trying to get independent confirmation of Crasnick’s report now.

Correia went 10-10 with a 5.40 ERA in 28 games (26 starts) for the Padres last season, one year after posting a 3.91 ERA and logging a career-best 198 innings. That 2009 season was the only one of Correia’s eight seasons in which he has pitched more than 145 innings.

He began his career pitching primarily as a reliever for the Giants, who drafted Correia in the fourth round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. Correia spent six years with San Francisco. The right-hander earned $3.6 million in 2010.

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