After designating him for assignment a few days ago, the Pirates have traded pitcher Zach Duke to the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later. Don’t expect the player to be named to be anyone of consequence. The Diamondbacks don’t intend to take Duke to arbitration – instead, they plan to take advantage of about one week they now have to negotiate with him exclusively, and if they can’t reach a deal for a salary lower than the $4.3 million he made last year, they’ll probably non-tender him and make him a free agent. The Pirates will just get a non-prospect minor leaguer in return.

This deal officially shuts the book on Duke’s six-year tenure with the Bucs. For his career, he has a 45-70 record and a 4.54 ERA. He wasn’t a great pitcher, but his numbers suffered greatly as a result of the awful defenses the Pirates fielded throughout his tenure.