MMO Free Agent Profile: Colin Rea, SP

Colin Rea

Position: SP B/T: R/R
Age: 34 (07/1/1990)

2024 Traditional Stats: 32 G (27 GS), 167.2 IP, 12-6, 4.29 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 135 SO, 43 BB
2024 Advanced Stats: 98 ERA+, 18.9% SO%, 6.0% BB%, 4.87 xERA, 4.75 FIP, 4.42 xFIP, 0.9 fWAR, 1.2 bWAR

Rundown

Colin Rea, 34 years old, was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 12th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, coming out of Indiana State University. He was an under-the-radar selection by the Padres as he was selected for the futures game in 2015, that same year he would make his major league debut starting six games for the Padres.

The next year would be a little more hectic for Rea as he would be a part of the Padres rotation in 2016 starting 18 games and appearing in 19. He would be dealt away at the deadline along with Andrew Cashner, and Tayron Guerrero in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Carter Capps, and two notable big leaguers now in Josh Naylor and Luis Castillo.

After one start with the Marlins, he was be placed on the injured list and eventually shipped back to the Padres for Luis Castillo from the Marlins. In November, of that same year, Rea underwent Tommy John surgery, which made him miss all of the 2017 season.

Rea wouldn’t bounce right back off of surgery as he left the MLB for Japan in 2022, posting a 3.47 ERA across 111 innings. He would come back in 2023 with the Brewers, the team he left to go to Japan. The past two years have been solid for Rea, as he has thrown 292 1/3 innings, posting a 4.40 ERA, as he has transitioned into a solid depth arm that can eat innings.

Digging more into his statistics as well as pitch mix, his underlying metrics were decent as pitching run value by Baseball Savant had him ranked just below average (47th percentile). Whiff and strikeouts numbers, along with velocity and soft contact generation, lagged, resulting in bottom percentile rankings. What made him an average arm last year, was a terrific 6% walk rate and a strong ability to mix pitches. His six-pitch mix headlined by his sinker, but he throws four pitches more than 17% of the time, he throws two others at least 4% of the time.

Contract

Rea is coming off a one-year deal with the Brewers where he was making $3.5 million. The Brewers made a somewhat surprising decision in declining his player option which was worth $5.5 million. One would assume he can net at least that on the open market. Anything getting too close to the $10 million mark unlikely, though.

Recommendation

Pitching depth is one of the most sought-after things in all of baseball, you never have enough, especially with all the injuries these last couple of years. Rea can eat innings and produce a relatively average ERA in the mid-4.00 range. Despite needing another starter in the rotation, Rea is just not quality the Mets need right now.

Rea profiles more as a fifth-starter type who can potentially come out of the bullpen to eat innings. As of now, the Mets have several guys that can currently solve that role; specifically Paul Blackburn and/or Tylor Megill. Given that, it seems unlikely a marriage between Rea and the Mets would make sense.

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