Arizona Diamondbacks trade for Matt Andriese from Tampa Bay Rays

The Athletic’s Robert Murray was the first to report that a deal between Arizona and Tampa Bay was in place. Ken Rosenthal then added, “Class A RHP Brian Shaffer heading from #DBacks to #Rays in Andriese trade, sources tell me and @ByRobertMurray. An upper-level prospect going to TB as well.” It turns out that player is Reno catcher Michael Perez, and to make room for Matt Andriese on the roster, the Diamondbacks designated Randall Delgado for assignment.

Andriese is a 28-year-old right-handed reliever, who is under team control for the next three seasons after this one - he’ll go through arbitration for the first time next year. He has swung between being a starting pitcher and reliever throughout his career. Each of the four seasons so far, has seen him both work in the rotation and out of the bullpen, so it’ll be interesting to see how the D-backs use him. The exit of Delgado suggests Andriese may be slotted into the bullpen to take over that long-relief role, and 20 of Andriese’s 27 outings this year have been for at least two innings. The additional control is something we didn’t have with Delgado who will become a free-agent at the end of the year.

All told, Andriese has a 4.30 ERA (93 ERA+) over 99 appearances in the majors - 48 starts and 51 relief appearances, with a better ERA is a reliever (3.88). His career FIP is a little lower, at 4.13, and he has a decent K:BB ratio of 293:89. Perhaps worth noting, his K-rate is the best it has been this season, with 59 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work. I’ll leave it to Michael or Wes to comment on the players going the other way. But although Delgado has been injured or mediocre this year, it’s still the end of an era. He’s fifth on the franchise list for games played, and appeared in six seasons for Arizona, a number currently surpassed only by Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson.