The Green Weenie: 12/17 Moves: King, Correia & Ward Signed; Broxton Trade; Pelicans Join the Roster

Sunday, December 17, 2017

1947 - The Pirates bought the AA New Orleans Pelicans, including 37 players (none of which ever made the Bucco roster), for an estimated $200K. In an era when farm systems were deep, The Big Easy became the Pirates 19th farm club in 1948. Oddly, in 1947, the club didn't field a AA team, so NOLA was a needed addition to fill the gap between AAA Indy and Single A Albany.

Jeff King 1993 Stadium Club

1993 - 3B Jeff King avoided arbitration by signing a one year, $2.4M contract. He lost an arbitration hearing the previous year, asking for $2M but being awarded $675K. He hit cleanup during the season, batting .295 with 9 HR and 98 RBI to earn the pay bump.
1997 - OF Turner Ward was signed to a two-year, $1.6M contract after hitting .353 off the bench during the season. Ward earned the money when he turned in a highlight-reel play in the ‘98 campaign when he crashed through the wall at TRS. He batted .262 in 1998 and was released in August of 1999 after posting a .209 BA. He rebounded to have a great season with Arizona to help them win the NL West, then played two more years before retiring after 2001. In all, he had 12 big league years with a .251 career BA.
2010 - RHP Kevin Correia signed as a FA with Pittsburgh, agreeing to a two year, $8M deal. In those two seasons, he would post a line of 24-22/4.49 before joining the Twins after losing his spot in the rotation to Wandy Rodriguez. He started 54 games, appeared 59 times, represented the Pirates at the 2011 All-Star Game and was their Opening Day pitcher that same season. KC worked for three more teams afterward, retiring after the 2015 season.

Kevin Correia 2011 Topps Update

2015 - The Pirates sent CF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Jason Rogers. The speedy Broxton hit .242/.354 OBP and swiped 23 sacks for the Brewers in 244 PA while Roger’s 2016 MLB chance was effectively blocked when the Bucs later signed David Freese. Jason got just 33 PAs and hit .080 for the Bucs in 2016 and went to Japan in 2017.