Pirates Trade Dario Agrazal to Tigers for Cash Considerations
The Pittsburgh Pirates have sent starting pitcher, Dario Agrazal, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for cash considerations. This came after a rather surprising move that saw Agrazal designated for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster for prospects the Pirates' wished to protect from the Rule 5 draft.
Agrazal struggled in 2019 with the Pirates - posting a 4.91 ERA, a 1.364 WHIP, and only 41 strikeouts in 73.1 innings.
The sudden organization souring on Agrazal coincided with the change in GM. It is likely that Dario does not fit in with what Ben Cherington wants. If you look into his pitches, he doesn't have a lot of them. His primary pitch was his sinker (or two-seamer). Outside of that, he had a slider (which was more of a slurve), a four-seamer averaged out in the low-90s, and a changeup that did little to compliment his already slower fastball.
Agrazal's success in the minor leagues is going to cause many to question the decision to move on from him, but his stuff helps validate the move. He relies on getting weak contact with his sinker, but often struggled to keep it down in the zone. Teams were hitting over .300 against his sinker with almost a third of the hits going for extra bases (9 home runs). That was his primary pitch. So, I get he played well in the minors, but his stuff is just not major league-level. So, in that sense, moving on from him has merit.
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