By Rob Biertempfel and Karen Price

Published: Monday, December 10, 2012, 5:02 p.m.
Updated: Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Pirates agreed Monday on a two-year, $6.75 million deal with reliever Jason Grilli, a source said.

He went 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 28 games after the Pirates signed him as a free agent July 21, 2011, a day after he was released by the Philadelphia Phillies. He became the Pirates' main setup man last season and was 1-6 with a 2.91 ERA in 64 games and 58.2 innings. He had two saves and 32 holds, fourth-most in the majors and second-most in the National League.

Grilli, 36, made $1.1 million last season.

After becoming a free agent this offseason, he received similar offers to the one the Pirates made from the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays. The San Francisco Giants also expressed interest, but they didn't offer a multi-year deal.

“... He did great things with us,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said at the league's winter meetings last week in Nashville, Tenn. “He's a great guy. Our hope is he continues to mentor our young pitchers and continues to strike out hitters for us.”

Huntington declined to comment on the signing Monday. Neither Grilli nor his agent returned phone calls to the Tribune-Review.

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