When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

03.28.2009
Taschner for Paulino for Correa

As expected the Giants flipped Ronny Paulino for a third player, Florida minor league pitcher Hector Correa. Here's his minor league record. He's very young, very well regarded, and apparently fought through injury last year. Here's what Baseball Prospectus wrote about him last year:

The Marlins felt as though Correa could handle a full-season assignment at age 19. Not quite. He washed out of Low-A Greensboro, but he was the talk of the New York-Penn League once he found his groove again in extended spring training. Long and lanky, Correa has a ton of upside, with many feeling that the mid-90s velocity he occasionally shows now will become a more regular occurrence with more seasoning. Throw in a biting slider, and he is still a high-ceiling prospect, although he's not far off the floor right now.

That was before the injury, which sidelined him for much of 2008. The bottom line: He just turned 21 with very little pro experience under his belt, he's got a good fastball and changeup, and he's coming off an arm injury that probably made him expendable. Does that remind you of anyone?

The move gives the Giants three open spots on the 40-man roster. They might need all three for non-roster invites, as Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe, Andres Torres, Brandon Medders and Justin Miller all have a shot at making the team. Plus there's talk of going after another relief pitcher, perhaps lefty specialist Will Ohman. It's going to be an intriguing final week of camp if you like roster shenanigans.


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4 Comments

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FelipeForever | March 29, 2009 2:15 AM | Reply

Lefty,

If we go by the giants official website, it seems that there are now 4 open spots on the 40-man, rather than 3. This is because Kelvin Pichardo is now on the "restricted list" after testing positive for something or other that may or may not have helped him to pitch better than he normally would have.

Barring an Ohman signing, all four may be taken up by NRIs: one of Medders/Miller, one of Aurilia/Guzman, Uribe, and Torres.

ELM replied to comment from FelipeForever | March 29, 2009 11:01 PM | Reply

I thought about Pichardo, but I wasn't sure if the rules allow the Giants to replace him on the 40-man because of the suspension. If you're right, yes, they have 4 spots open.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Noah Lowry goes on the 60-day DL, which I think would open a fifth spot.

daveineixle | March 29, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply

I really like this combination of moves. Sure the new Correa may never reach AA but the Giants have just turned a guy that have no place for into a backup catcher that, at best, could help the team occasionally for a maximum or 18 months then into an arm that could help a team for several years running should he reach The Show.

If he doesn’t reach the show he turns into part of wash out rate a club has to pay to develop MLB pitchers without ever losing a draft pick or a huge signing bonus. Win! Win!! Win!! In my book.

ELM replied to comment from daveineixle | March 29, 2009 11:10 PM | Reply

I agree with your assessment, Dave. It's a low-risk way of picking up a pretty darn good prospect and taking nearly a million bucks off the payroll. If Taschner goes on to have success with Philly or beyond, so be it.

You can also think of it this way: If Correa has a great year in A ball, he'll be a hot commodity again and a valuable trade chip.

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