Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates Pirates DFA Duke after failing to trade him
The Pittsburgh Pirates tonight announced Mike Crotta, Jeff Locke, Kyle McPherson, Daniel Moskos and Tony Watson have been added to 40-man roster.
To make room for tonight’s moves, Zach Duke, Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young have been designated for assignment, the team announced. All three players were eligible for arbitration.
The moves to add Crotta, Locke, McPherson, Moskos and Watson to the 40-man roster were made so the group of players won’t be exposed to next month’s Rule-5 draft.
Duke’s tenure with the Pirates will come to an end as he was not going to be tendered by the team. Duke, 27, went 8-15 last season with a 5.72 ERA.
The team actively tried to trade Duke this past week at the GM meetings but the 27 year old garnered no interest.
In his career with Pittsburgh (2005-2010), Duke went 45-70 with a 4.50 ERA in 159 starts.
Duke’s rookie season in 2005, he went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA but never lived up to expectations after that. He would go on to lose 14+ games in four of his next five seasons and never posted a winning record after 2005.
Duke who was named to the All-Star team in 2009, made $4.3 million in 2009.
The Pirates 40-man roster is now at 40.
