Manny Corpas was the closer on a World Series team as a 24-year-old in 2007, tossing 78 innings with 2.08 ERA, but he struggled this season for the third straight year before undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in September and today the Rockies released him.
Corpas still has one season and $3.5 million remaining on the long-term contract he signed in February of 2008, and the Rockies must also pay him $750,000 worth of buyouts for 2012 and 2013 team options that would have been worth $14 million.
He’s still just 28 years old and didn’t pitch quite as bad as his bloated ERAs looked prior to going under the knife, but at best Corpas will be ready to pitch again in September and the Rockies decided to simply eat the rest of his contract to clear a spot on the 40-man roster in the meantime.