The Pirates have agreed to sign free agent left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes to minor league contract, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. MLBTR has learned that the sides agreed to a split contract that includes an invitation to Spring Training and incentives. He drew interest from Korean teams before agreeing to terms with the Pirates.
Reyes has struggled through parts of five MLB seasons despite his success in the minors (3.51 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9). He has a career ERA of 6.05 in the Majors and has never posted an ERA below the 5.57 mark he posted with the Blue Jays and Orioles in 2011. The Orioles non-tendered Reyes after the 2011 season.
Despite the high ERA, there are reasons the Paragon Sports International client drew interest this offseason. He's young, controllable (arbitration eligible through 2014), left-handed and his average fastball checks in at 90 mph. He posted respectable rates of 5.6 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 40.6% ground balls all while pitching in the AL East. Ten of his 25 starts (40%) came against the four best offenses in MLB: the Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers and Tigers and SIERA (4.60) and xFIP (4.58) suggest Reyes' unsightly 5.57 ERA was inflated by a run or so.
The 27-year-old spent the 2011 season starting for the Blue Jays and Orioles, but he could intrigue the Pirates as a reliever. Charlie Morton, James McDonald, Erik Bedard, Jeff Karstens and Kevin Correia project to start for the Pirates and southpaws Tony Watson and Daniel Moskos figure to contribute out of the bullpen.
biggest signing of the offseason
And the decade
Too bad it wasn’t Jo. Reyes
now THAT is a pirates signing if i have ever seen one!!!!
Finally!…. The anticipation was killing me.
Wow, it finally happened. I guess that’s what I get for making fun of this guy for years. He’s like a match made in heaven for the Pirates.
They’ll still come in ahead of the Cubs and Astros.
stop…
Can’t wait to see the Cards tee off on this guy, if he even makes it to the Majors.
he will make it bro….it is the pirates we are referring to and with all this garbage piching they brought in, they could have maybe brought back maholm
i wouldn’t consider Erik Bedard garbage
if he wasn’t, how come boston didn’t resign him after the season?? right , because he stunk up fenway with his um performances….he is nothing but a cheap a## replacement for maholm and his record will be sub-500 with about a 4.00 to 4.50 era and i as a betting man will give you 2 to 1 odds on that and im sure that there are others that would jump on that bet in a second….he only looked good for a little bit because he was pitching in that pitchers house known as safeco….come on dom, do some research on a guy if you are gonna defend him…..
people had interest in him?! and since when was 27 young for a tihs pitcher like jo-jo
I know this has nothing to do with the article, but I wanted you to know that I had a dog named Jo-Jo.
How’s his fastball?
Check the outfield seats.
when i was in high school, my dea### was named jo jo….small world!!
I bet my friend in the beginning of the off season the Pirates would sign Reyes. He only assumed i meant Jose! He owes me 50 bucks!
Sounds about right.
game changer
Keep reaching for those stars Pirates.
One year ago it was the Jays fans who felt like this, so I won’t say much..
Just know that he wont last long pirate fans. don’t feel too bad
Well he was already on the team (came over in July 2010 with Yunel), but come Spring Training when they said he was a candidate for the rotation…yeah I felt like that.
I dunno, this guy is like a leech, he just latches on and destroys your team by somehow claiming a fifth starter position. People will always give him a shot because he’s left handed and pitched ok in the minors, but his ERA is right around 6 in 300+ big league innings. Why does he get so much work?
“potential”
you know how it is…if you are a lefty and a warm body, someone will give you a chance….my guess everywhere he goes he gets a pitching coach who thinks they can”fix him”…..no luck on that so far
I dunno, this guy is like a leech, he just latches on and destroys your team by somehow claiming a fifth starter position. People will always give him a shot because he’s left handed and pitched ok in the minors, but his ERA is right around 6 in 300+ big league innings. Why does he get so much work?
Biggest news here: The Royals didnt sign the Braves bust Jojo Reyes
Aw you beat me to it. I guess I’ll delete my comment.
jeez, like no team ever makes minor league signings. for every one of them, there are like 20 comments exactly like the ones above, which act like the team signed the player as a savior or something. you guys need to quit copy/pasting each others’ comments, or learn some new jokes already.
jeez, like no team ever makes minor league signings. for every one of them, there are like 20 comments exactly like the ones above, which act like the team signed the player as a savior or something. you guys need to quit copy/pasting each others’ comments, or learn some new jokes already.
The better Reyes. Better than that shortstop…
I still prefer Hugo Reyes.
What about the ever so lethal Al Reyes?
What about the ever so lethal Al Reyes?
Oh! I think I get it! you’re joking that Jojo Reyes is better than Jose, when in reality it’s the opposite. hahaha! whoooo!
I’m surprised the Royals didn’t sign him!
dude, the royals aren’t that desperate
I’m surprised the Royals didn’t sign him!
considering this dude spent virtually the entire season in one of the toughest division’s in baseball, as a starter no less, i’d say he has at least some value to his credit. his peripherals aren’t completely minuscule from what i’m looking at, so why not take a chance on him?
Bullpen, yes. Rotation, no.
Ugh, he was such a promising prospect but not he can join his former AAAA buddy Charlie Morton
Maybe the Braves can trade us another AAAA prospect for McLouth again??
Ugh, he was such a promising prospect but not he can join his former AAAA buddy Charlie Morton
WHY?!
Man they just WANT to have a losing record, don’t they?
don’t worry, i’m sure dodgers will trade for him in the off season, just like dana evaland.
Yeah, and Dana Eveland posted a 3.03 ERA and 1.8BB/9 when he was 27 for the Dodgers in spite of a 5.74 ERA and 4.7BB/9 in 330 innings prior to that point. Granted it was only in 29.7 innings, but I’m just struggling to see how a guy showing signs of life (if nothing else) at the age of 27 is a bad thing.
If nothing else, Dana Eveland is a good comparison to Jo-Jo in that maybe, in spite of all the negativity, he could in fact be a low risk/ high reward signing by the Pirates. And when you’re the Pirates, unfortunately you have to bank on those kinds of situations.
you must of not seen this guy pitch, he can go to any league and still be jojo reyes. he has good stuff but just can’t command it, he is better of as a long relief guy instead of a starter. even in the NL he will get smacked around, as proven when he was with the braves.
and i never said it wasn’t a good sign, i just implied that if he does put up decent numbers, such as evaland’s, he will some how be traded for by the dodgers.
Worst pitcher in baseball
worst starter in baseball….in washington we had a reliever named doug slaten…He was the worst pitcher in baseball….dont look at his era as its very deceptive…another pitcher walks a couple guys and whammo!! slaton is kind enough to serve a tater and those guys score, slaten not charged….slaten was supposedly our left hand “specialist” and at one point opposing teams went 14 out of 22 against him…Now that is THE WORST pitcher in baseball
No! Come Back! Joey Jo-Jo!
Gene, Gene made a machine. Jo-Jo made it go. Art, Art ….
Jo-Jo is an Atlanta Braves bust, however he is young and could still generate quality outings for other teams in the league. His SIERA and xFIP are that of a 4-5 starter, and if he ever puts it together, he and his nasty curve may make it back into a rotation. Nothing wrong with the Pirates making a logical gamble here. My only issue with him is that I hear he is stubborn as hell and wouldn’t listen to his veterans giving him advice so there is doubt that he ever makes that next step.