No doubt feeling pretty bullet proof after fixing Francisco Liriano the Pirates and pitching coach Ray Searage have taken on any even bigger reclamation projection in Edinson Volquez.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that Volquez has agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal, which is pretty nice money for someone coming off a 5.71 ERA.
As a 24-year-old Volquez had a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts in 196 innings, but injuries followed and in five years since then he’s failed to post a sub-4.00 ERA. He was a mess this year, issuing 4.1 walks per nine innings, uncorking 16 wild pitches, and allowing a league-high 108 earned runs in 170 innings.
Volquez still throws hard, averaging 92.5 miles per hour with his fastball, but at age 30 his raw stuff is no longer overpowering and his control has always been awful. If he turns into a mid-rotation starter or better for the Pirates ... well, Searage deserves a huge raise.