The Cardinals hoped to sneak Pacheco, who was experiencing elbow discomfort, through wavers late last offseason after the bulk of teams had mostly wrapped up their 40 man moves. Detroit decided to step in and sequestered the recuperating reliever on their 60 day IL, burning an option year while he accrued a full season of service time without throwing a pitch. The two parties initially tried to avoid Tommy John surgery, but it became unavailable and he went under the knife in June.
He spent ages growing into a viable major league prospect, but a 2022 breakout put him right on the cusp of a MLB promotion.