The Pirates have claimed first baseman Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Marlins, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Miami designated Diaz for assignment last week.
Diaz, 26, was a fairly high-profile amateur signing by the Twins back in 2013, inking a $1.4MM bonus and headlining their 2013-14 international free agency class. He ranked among Minnesota’s top prospects for several years due to his power potential and a plus glove at first base, but the Twins flipped him to Miami in a 2019 trade that netted them veteran reliever Sergio Romo and pitching prospect Chris Vallimont.
With the Marlins, Diaz elevated his profile early on before scuffling through parts of three Major League auditions. He’s logged big league time each season since 2020 but produced only a .181/.227/.340 batting line with a 28.9% strikeout rate against just a 5.5% walk rate. Despite his 6’4″ frame and considerable raw power potential, Diaz hasn’t yet hit the ball with much authority in the Majors; he does have 13 home runs in 343 plate appearances, but Diaz’s average exit velocity (88.1 mph), barrel rate (8%) and hard-hit rate (32.6%) are all pedestrian, at best. He’s also been quite prone to pop-ups, with more of his fly-balls (14.4%) registering as infield flies than as home runs (11.7%).
That said, Diaz only just turned 26 years old and has at least one demonstrably excellent skill that’ll play at the Major League level: his glove. He’s only logged 753 Major League innings at first base but still has eye-popping totals in Defensive Runs Saved (16) and Outs Above Average (9). The offensive profile is still quite clearly a work in progress, but Diaz is a .250/.325/.504 hitter in two Triple-A seasons. At his best, he’s tattooed right-handed pitching in the minors, creating some hope that he could at least be a platoon option for the Buccos.
Diaz is out of minor league options, so he’ll either have to break camp with the Pirates next spring or else be designated for assignment once again. If the Pirates at any point are able to succeed in passing him through waivers, Diaz could be retained without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster, though his glove alone might make that difficult.
Diaz is the second option the Bucs have acquired to potentially address their need at first base in the still-young offseason. Pittsburgh also acquired lefty-swinging Ji-Man Choi in a trade with the Rays, though Choi recently underwent elbow surgery. He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training. Diaz is the far superior defender between the two, so if he indeed earns a spot on the Opening Day roster next spring, that could push the 31-year-old Choi into the Pirates’ designated hitter slot. Between Diaz, Choi and late-season acquisition Miguel Andujar, the Pirates have a number of players who could vie for time at first base and designated hitter. Andujar’s right-handed bat would be a fine complement to either Diaz or Choi, and Andujar has ample experience in left field as well.
When your services are needed by the pirates that should tell you to pick a better career.
I have no doubt that the Pirates hitting coach will ruin any potential Diaz has and will be released by the trading deadline
The Miami hitting coaches already accomplished that.
i would agree . but Marlins hitting coach did nothing with him.
if you look at swing start of 2022 season till end. nothing change.
most of young guys coming up. swinging with too small bat.
Miami not Pittsburgh dfa’d Diaz
Augh, thanks. Updated.
I wouldn’t worry about it Steve. I’m sure we are all awaiting the day Diaz gets dfa’d.
Need a new pool for how long till Diaz is DFAd again. I pick February 15th 2023
Maybe you wanted to say that Miami designated Diaz for assignment.
Finally, a move!
Said the paraplegic…
Sorry folks, I’d hate to be a Pirates fan these days…
Now is a good time. They actually have some young interesting players at the mlb level. 2020 2021 2022 not so much.
I’ve been a Bucs fan since 1966, was a season ticket holder for 30 years and with this cheapskate owner, while I’m still a fan, I’ll never spend another red cent for anything as long as Nutting is the owner
Good TheMan! Dam right.
Bob Nutting will never change his ways.
It will NEVER be THE TIME to ADD PAYROLL. NEVER EVER.
Promises and Promises never come through.
I know these Parents have kids that will always spend money. But I wish everyone else in Pittsburgh would stop.
Its so frustrating. He doesn’t want to spend the money. Yet he doesn’t want to sell the dam team. So………we are in Pirate Jail for the foreseeable future…….. Just great.
Thanks So Much
3rivers, according to Forbes, Nutting paid $92 million for the Pirates, which was valued in 2022 at $1.2 billion
For Nutting, this organization is a cash cow
I’m almost embarrassed to be a Pirates fan sometimes
You’ll be missed…
So they left Nuñez exposed just to claim Diaz?
Would have been more interesting if it was Edwin Ríos. If Diaz was good against left handed pitching, maybe he would be a good compliment to Choi, but no.
Gambling no one claims Nunez. Odds are in their favor but not sure it’s worth gambling with. 40 man could had been trimmed more.
They should cut Diaz and Webb. Trim that roster.
Too late now for Nunez. Lots of triming to come though.
The Nutting method of making a major league team in waiver claim dumpster diving continues
What a terrible move by the Marlins. They barely gave this kid a shot at all shuffling him back and forth without an actual opportunity. The glove is real and the power is real. There’s ZERO doubt in my mind the Pirates found themselves a solid piece. At his worst he’ll be Jesus Aguilar with defensive ability. The stupidity by the Marlins GM continues another day. Sigh.
I guess they thought think they are contenders. Getting out of Miami plus more playing time would do wonders for him.
Wasn’t there a Coen Bros movie called, “This is Lewin Diaz?”
Good job Pirates.
When does the Pirates contention period start?
Whenever they hit on enough young players to have a contender core. 2024 possibly unless they get super lucky this year.
when you ask. Digdugler?
After their next rebuild in 2025
Really like this pickup. Going to need a good fielding first baseman if you plan to keep Cruz at short.
Good point. If Winker didn’t hit left handed I’d say the Bucs should pursue him as Seattle has a surplus of outfielders. This Diaz kid is literally our only right handed bat outside of Andujar.
Diaz bats left.
Reynolds is a switch hitter and bats right against lefties
Regardless they need more batters from the righht side
Good pickup. Pirates having a good thrifty November. This guy could easily be a 700 ops and with the nice defense a big upgrade over anything they had the past few years at 1b.
Lewin has two things he has shown so far.
1 – He has GG caliber defense.
2 – He can hit HRs.
Problem is that he doesn’t get the bat on the ball very often.
My notes on him are positive enough. And he’s actually had some average mlb success if you dig into his stats. I can see a strong platoon average 1b. Good enough for cheap labor on a non contending team. He could be a all star compared to who or what the Pirates have sent out to play 1b since Bell trade.
Lewin has talent. The only thing holding him down is the ability to get the bat on the ball at an MLB caliber rate. As crazy as some may think this statement will be based on his MLB performance so far, I feel that if Lewin can get the bat on the ball more regularly, he could become a 30-35 HR guy and win the 1B GG (in the very least be a perennial finalist).
Never know. If he can be good enough to play vs lhp that will be impressive.
Woof
Smart pickup for the Pirates!
Only if they can get him to put the bat on the ball more often. Otherwise, he’s a journeyman 1B that will bounce between AAA and MLB, hitting impressive HRs once in a while, and showing GG caliber defense, while not hitting much.
Also the Pirates need to play him more, I think if he is given enough chances, he could be good, in the past he hasn’t played a lot, so it will be interesting to see if the Pirates give him the chance to play a lot this season.
That’s exactly what they said about Yoshi and Van Meter, give them enough ABs and they will show their potential
Good point
Did nobody end up claiming Stone Garrett?
🙁
he stinks get a grip people
He still has a positive WAR even with his struggles so you clearly dont know baseball
War is meaningless
It’s the primary quantifiable measure of player performance. I’m not sure what else you have that’s better. And no…your eyes scouting from your home sofa are not better than the formulas that exist today.
A sensible pickup. The potential is there. His defense is already big league ready. He is at least a backup plan if Choi tanks. The Bucs are required to put someone at 1B. These two options look better than last years 10ish.