Roman Colon

ROMAN COLON RIGHT HANDED PITCHER Born: August 13, 1979 Height: 6’5″ Weight: 245 Bats: Right Throws: Right Signed: International Free Agent, 1995 (Braves) How Acquired: Minor League Free Agent Country: Dominican Republic Agent: Arn Tellem WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES Colon is a big RHP who throws hard, usually averaging over 94 mph when pitching in relief in the majors.  He also throws a slider, a splitter or cutter, and an occasional change.  He’s never had an out pitch, though, and has generally gotten hit a little hard.  He’s a mild groundball pitcher and hasn’t walked many or allowed many HRs, but he’s also had a low K rate.  He moved very slowly through the Braves’ system, not being added to the 40-man roster until eight years after he signed.  He pitched in the majors sporadically with the Braves, Tigers and Royals, without much success.  The Pirates signed him to a minor league deal for 2013. 1997 R:  3-4-0, 4.29 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 63.0 IP, 4.0 BB/9, 6.3 K/9 Colon pitched mostly as a starter in his US debut and mostly struggled, although he turned 18 only late in the year. 1998 R+:  1-7-0, 5.77 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 73.1 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 6.5 K/9 Colon moved up to advanced rookie ball, still as a starter, and again struggled. 1999 A-:  7-5-0, 4.54 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 77.1 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 7.1 K/9 Colon made some improvement in short season ball. 2000 Did not play Colon missed the entire season with an injury. 2001 A:  7-7-0, 3.59 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 128.0 IP, 1.8 BB/9, 6.4 K/9 Back from injury, Colon showed improvement in his full season debut.  He allowed very few walks or HRs, but he did have more hits allowed than innings pitched, and his K rate was low. 2002 A+:  9-8-0, 3.53 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 163.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 5.2 K/9 In high A, still as a starter, Colon pitched about the same as the previous year. 2003 AA:  11-3-2, 3.36 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 107.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 4.9 K/9 Colon split his time in AA between starting and relieving.  He continued to get good results despite an extremely low K rate.  The Braves added him to their 40-man roster after the season. 2004 AA:  1-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 15.0 K/9 AAA:  4-1-0, 3.65 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 74.0 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 7.8 K/9 MLB:  2-1-0, 3.32 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 19.0 IP, 3.8 BB/9, 7.1 K/9 The Braves moved Colon full-time to the bullpen.  He spent most of the season in AAA and increased his K rate while otherwise continuing to pitch about the same as the previous several seasons.  He made his major league debut in late August and pitched reasonably well. 2005 AA (Atl):  0-0-0, 1.17 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 7.2 IP, 2.3 BB/9, 8.2 K/9 AAA (Atl):  1-1-0, 1.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 3.2 BB/9, 5.8 K/9 MLB (Atl):  1-5-0, 5.28 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 44.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 6.1 K/9 MLB (Det):  1-1-0, 6.12 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 6.1 K/9 Colon spent most of the season, through the trade deadline, pitching in relief for Atlanta.  He struggled severely, posting an ERA of 8.50 through June 10, then started four games, pitching better than he had in relief.  The Braves traded him to Detroit at the trade deadline and he continued to struggle as a swing man. 2006 AAA:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 6.2 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.1 K/9 MLB:  2-0-1, 4.89 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 38.2 IP, 3.3 BB/9, 5.8 K/9 Colon pitched in 20 games, including one start, for the Tigers, but missed a significant portion of the season with elbow stiffness. 2007 AA (Det):  2-0-1, 5.91 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 4.2 BB/9, 8.4 K/9 AAA (Det):  0-1-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 7.2 BB/9, 5.4 K/9 AAA (KC):  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 1.2 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 5.4 K/9 Colon missed the start of the season with an injury, then during a rehab assignment got involved in an altercation with a teammate that ended with Colon punching and severely injuring a different teammate.  The Tigers suspended Colon, then traded him to Kansas City.  He pitched only once after the trade and was outrighted after the season.  He re-signed with the Royals. 2008 AA:  2-0-1, 5.29 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 17.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 4.2 K/9 AAA:  5-5-1, 4.64 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 95.0 IP, 2.6 BB/9, 5.9 K/9 Colon pitched in both AA and AAA for the Royals, including ten starts in AAA. 2009 AAA:  2-3-2, 2.84 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 9.2 K/9 MLB:  2-3-0, 4.83 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 50.1 IP, 3.9 BB/9, 5.2 K/9 Colon opened the season in AAA, but the Royals called him up in late May.  He pitched 43 games, all in relief, in the majors, putting up adequate numbers with his usual low K rate. 2010 AAA:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 4.5 K/9 Korea:  8-7-0, 3.91 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 103.2 IP, 3.6 BB/9, 4.9 K/9 MLB:  0-0-0, 18.00 ERA, 3.50 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 9.0 BB/9, 4.5 K/9 The Royals released Colon in early May and he caught on in the Korean League.  After the season he signed with the Dodgers. 2011 AAA:  2-1-3, 4.85 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 29.2 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 5.2 K/9 The Dodgers assigned Colon to Albuquerque, but he missed about half the season with a broken foot. 2012 AAA:  4-2-7, 3.09 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 67.0 IP, 3.8 BB/9, 7.9 K/9 MLB:  0-0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 3.4 K/9 The Royals signed Colon for 2012 and he spent the year in AAA, outside of a three-game callup in June.  He didn’t pitch as well as his ERA indicates. The Pirates did not extend Colon an invitation to major league camp.  He’ll probably serve as minor league depth at either Indianapolis or Altoona, and has little chance of reaching Pittsburgh. STATS Baseball Reference–Majors Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MLB.com MiLB.com CONTRACT INFORMATION 2005: $318,500 2007: $385,000 2009: $435,000 2010: $665,000 2013: Minor League Contract PLAYER INFORMATION Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 1997 MLB Debut: 8/21/2004 MiLB FA Eligible: 2013 MLB FA Eligible: 2016 Rule 5 Eligible: 2013 Added to 40-Man: 11/20/03 Options Remaining: 0 (USED:  2004, 2005, 2006) MLB Service Time: 3.163 TRANSACTIONS August 14, 1995: Signed as an international free agent with the Atlanta Braves. November 20, 2003: Contract purchased by the Atlanta Braves. July 31, 2005: Traded by the Atlanta Braves with Zach Miner to the Detroit Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth. July 13, 2007: Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Kansas City Royals for Daniel Christensen. November 20, 2007: Outrighted to AAA by the Kansas City Royals. November 3, 2008: Became a free agent. January 7, 2009: Signed as a minor league free agent with the Kansas City Royals. May 24, 2009: Called up by the Kansas City Royals. May 4, 2010: Released by the Kansas City Royals. January 12, 2011: Signed as a minor league free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers. November 2, 2011: Became a free agent. January 25, 2012: Signed as a minor league free agent with the Kansas City Royals. June 14, 2012: Called up by the Kansas City Royals. June 23, 2012: Designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals; outrighted to AAA on June 25. October 5, 2012: Became a free agent. February 13, 2013: Signed as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.