The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded right-handed pitcher Dario Agrazal to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations. Agrazal had been designated for assignment last week, clearing room on the 40-man roster to protect five prospects from the upcoming Rule 5 draft.
Agrazal reached the majors in Pittsburgh this year, making 14 starts as an injury replacement. During that time he had a 4.91 ERA in 73.1 innings. He didn’t record a lot of strikeouts, but gave up almost two homers per nine innings. Agrazal profiled as a ground ball pitcher coming up through the minors, but only had a 39.9% ground ball rate with the Pirates this year, after a 50.5% rate in Triple-A.
Agrazal’s best pitch is his sinker, which sits in the low 90s. He also throws a slider and changeup. His upside is a middle reliever who won’t get strikeouts, but could get easy outs if his ground ball tendency returns. He would have been bullpen depth out of Triple-A in 2020 if he remained in the organization.
