12:49pm: Diaz’s exact guarantee if $14.5MM, Sherman tweets.
11:50am: The A’s and veteran infielder Aledmys Diaz are in agreement on a two-year deal in the $14MM range, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The deal is pending a physical.
Diaz, 32, has spent the past four seasons in a utility role with the division-rival Astros, serving as a nice bat against left-handed pitching and playing all over the diamond. He’s coming off a .243/.287/.403 season that represents a slight downturn from what he’s done in four years with Houston on the whole: .255/.313/.424.
A dismal postseason showing wasn’t the lasting image for which Diaz hoped as he headed into free agency, but that’s the scenario with which he was faced after going just 1-for-22 with a double and six strikeouts. Even with that ugly closing note, however, Diaz’s broader track record as a slightly above-average hitter with some defensive versatility was enough to land him a multi-year deal that’ll run through his age-33 season.
Diaz spent time at all four infield spots in 2022, plus a brief look in left field, so he’ll give the A’s a versatile option — much like the recently signed Jace Peterson — after they entered the offseason with little in the way of infield stability. Peterson (third base), Tony Kemp (second base) and Seth Brown (first base) all hit left-handed, so Diaz can serve as a right-handed complement to any of the bunch. That said, Diaz is a career .275/.322/.457 hitter against righties, so he has enough bat to be in the lineup as more than just a platoon option for manager Mark Kotsay.
While Diaz was a primarily a shortstop early in his career with the Cardinals and still has more innings at that position than any other spot on the diamond, he’s continually drawn poor defensive grades there from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (-23 in 2524 innings), Ultimate Zone Rating (-14) and Outs Above Average (-17). That said, Diaz is a decent enough emergency option at the position, should a need arise, and he’s drawn positive marks from those same metrics at each of the other three infield slots.
The A’s entered the 2022-23 offseason without a single guaranteed contract on the books for the upcoming season, but they’ve now inked a pair of versatile infielders to two-year contracts, at least affording them some semblance of reliability in the lineup. That said, they’re also fielding trade offers for standout catcher Sean Murphy, who seems likely to be traded, and by midseason they could very well be fielding interest in Diaz and/or Peterson as they continue to stockpile young players in their latest rebuilding effort.
Oakland is still under $50MM in payroll for the 2023 season — assuming neither the Diaz nor Peterson deal is heavily front-loaded — so there’s room for the team to make some additional signings in this tier of the market. Given the lack of experience on the roster and the defensive fluidity many of the current starters bring to the table, the A’s could still make a play for a free agent at just about any position. There’s also clear room for multiple veteran arms, be they starters or relievers, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see a handful of comparably modest signings in the weeks and months ahead.
Yes! Make Oakland an isnland of lost toys! Bring on Nelly Cruz and Didi Gregorious. Nice to see Diaz in the white and gold!
Aledmys is definitely going to be missed in Houston. Best wishes.
Get a ring. Then get paid.
Wow, Fisher agreed to pay $7 million per year for a free agent
Sadly, it’s only $4m less per year than the largest in A’s history if I’m not mistaken.
That was only 18 years ago…
It doesn’t say that a portion of the contract is vending machine revenue. The actual contract is $6.8 mill
I thought the Tigers were paying for the A’s soda…
It’s actually only 6.8 mill- they included a clause where he gets paid out in vending machine proceeds and BART passes.
If he doesn’t start using that revenue sharing money MLB will take it away again
Probably some minimum spending clause in the real estate deal that has always been his main motivation.
Quite the splurge from them.
Wow. That seems high – especially for the Athletics. What am I missing?
Wondering if it’s a two year deal plus an option year with a buyout.
Might be they think they can squeeze more value out of him with full-time play rather than him being a platoon guy in HOU.
Remember they have to spend in order to get their full revenue shares.
The pay in MLB is good.
It sure is LordD…He is gonna make roughly the same amount of $ in 24 months which would take the average american family 200 years to make. I for one am impressed.
The trashtros must’ve been too cheap to outbid the A’s. Oakland’s coming for the crown
We emptied out the trash bags and you came scouring! Poverty As get a good meal and Astros get to play Good Samaritan
I can hear the fear in your voice bro.
You better pray that the buzzers don’t malfunction.
Buzzers? You must be a Q Anon guy.
You must be a Jeff Epstein fan.
I have no idea why you would bring that up on a baseball website otherwise.
As long as you have Altuve and Bergman the trash stays in Houston.
Who is Bergman?
Ingrid
One of the greatest filmmakers of all-time, Swede Ingmar Bergman, who also plays third base for the Astro’s. Google says he died in 2007 but what do they know.
Lance Berkman, I guess.
Dave Bergman, but he hasn’t played for the Astros since 1981…
Sean Bergman pitched for the Astros in ’98 and part of ’99 with a blistering cumulative 4.6K/9 for them, so perhaps he is dusting off his cleats to play alongside Altuve.
Bergman always seems pretty glassy eyed and drugged out, maybe it’s a “Get Out” situation with Ingmar Bergman pursuing his true love, baseball?
I imagine the Astros want to see David Hensley in an extended opportunity after his 189 wRC+ in 22
Astros have Hensley and Mauricio Dubon. No need to spend big on a utility Infielder
Seems very high
He’s one of the better utility infielders in the game and it’s only a two-year deal, so no. I bet he had similar offers from other teams but A’s probably had to outbid them for his services. Maybe by a million or two per season. Still good value.
So is the demand for utility players at the trade deadline. We got Manaea for one year of Zobrist, DIas isn’t as good but we could probably pump up his value by sitting him against certain pitchers and then flip him for a quality relief pitcher under team control, or something.
Good player. Sorry to see him go. I think the deal is a fair one. Plays multiple positions and has some pop with the bat.
Position cover for upcoming trades?
That’s my thought. Laureano on the move, TK to the outfield, Diaz to 2B.
More like Díaz at 3B and Peterson at 2B.
This signing is Pinder part 2. Utility player that bats right and hits only well against lefthanded pitching.
He actually hits better against RH pitchers = reverse splits
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=diaza…
He actually hits better against RH pitchers = reverse splits
last year he hit left handers much better.
But why?
2yr/$14m seems decent for both sides.
Him and Jace Peterson will bring some versatility to the A’s
SMH the A’s signing every utility player that is a free agent. Opposing starters can throw anything at the A’s not worry about going against tough hitters.
He’s a terrific player in a super utility role on a team friendly deal. This is a lot of money for a guy who is simply not an everyday player. He’s a fastball hitter. I liked the kid a lot and wish him the best.
Padres apparently offered Diaz $75 Million, which he rejected.
This is funny today, but don’t be trotting this out after someone signs with them.
Someone probably will sign with them soon. It’s just crazy that they offered Trea Turner $342 Million, and he decided to sign for only $300 Million with Philadelphia, as well as offering Judge $400 Million, when he would go on to re-sign with the Yankees for $360 Million. Perhaps their offers had lower AAV, less incentive, and maybe fewer perks though.
After they sign someone, we can laugh how they overpaid.
I dunno, do you functionally see a difference between having 300 vs. 342 million dollars? Whatever lifestyle changes the extra 42 mill could buy I doubt that’s anything compared to having a happy wife.
That is true, Turner’s wife is from Jersey, so her living close to home was huge contributor to his deal with the Phillies.
LOL!
Hey, Preller! Don’t Boegaerts the free agents!
Damn the A’s are actually spending money.
They’re probably trying to hold onto their revenue share. If they’re willing to part with an extra farmhand, I’m sure the Mets would help them in that effort by sending them Darin Ruf. He performs better in the Bay Area, anyway.
I love how the A’s always seem to make a couple of these type of moves during the offseason while everyone else is signing huge contracts, as if to tell the league “Hey look, we still exist.”
Oakland signed a free agent?! I never saw this coming
I guess the signings of Peterson and Diaz means Machin won’t be a starter. That’s good, but what happens with Jordan Diaz? I was impressed with his small sample size.
Diaz will get At Bats on the Corner infield spots and posisble DH.
I’m just elated that we will see less of Vimael Machin but am wondering now how tihs will affect Nick Allen as our future Shortstop.
Diaz – not a good SS, decent bat. That’s the ‘Jed Lowrie’ profile, so Allen will be safe.
If he can stay healthy for the whole season, this will be a great addition.
I only get the spelling on his 1st name right about 10% of the time and it drives me crazy! I have no idea why “Aledmys” is so hard for me haha
That’s how I feel about Dwayne Wade.
Cincy, you mean “Dwaine Weighed” right??
That’s how I feel about Marc Rzepczynski.
I always want to spell Marc with a k.
bham, I hear ya man. Marc with a C is always a killer!
Wait, his last name is Rzepczynski, and it’s the “c” in his first name that gets you?!
disadvantage, haha I think bhambrave was being facecious and I was just following his lead
Exactly. Did you know that you can’t even spell Scrabble Man’s (Rzepczynski’s) name in Scrabble? His name has two Z’s, but there’s only one Z in the Scrabble box.
Haha, well played @bham… just not in Scrabble.
But blank tiles are your friend! Although, it would be impossible to play his name because you only get seven tiles, and there’s no word you could play it off of.
Multi-position players are easy to trade at the deadline…
Ding ding ding! Just my thought. When the A’s are non-contenders they buy mid-relievers and guys like Diaz. Easy to move at the deadline.
oakland has to spend that sweet revenue sharing cash somewhere i guess
Yea, us and the Rays are on probation for pocketing it.
Wow. I didn’t expect the A’s to overpay for anyone. There are a bunch of veteran shortstops who they could’ve likely signed for less than half that like Andrelton, Didi, Andrus, Iglesias or Villar.
That’s the issue with being one of the worst teams in baseball with no chance for the postseason (sorry A’s fans but Texas and Seattle both just massively improved). Guys just don’t want to sign there unless getting starts and getting their career back online is the top priority.
One thing is true about being a veteran signing with the A’s. If you are playing well you will get flipped at the deadline for prospects. So maybe Diaz is reasonably confident that will happen.
They’re not signing Diaz to push Nick Allen (clearly better defender, weaker bat) off SS. He’ll get used at 2B, corner IF/OF.
I would expect Diaz and Peterson to platoon at 3B while also playing the other Infield positions from time to time
Diaz is going to make more than Sean Murphy over the next two years, and they’re going to trade Murphy? Use the money to keep a player if you’re going to waste money like this. The A’s are going to hit less homeruns than Mike Trout next year.
Possible generic Astros DP combination. SS Diaz to 2B Kemp.
This contract is fine. A bit surprised he ended up in Oakland just because while he is average, a lot of better teams need an average player say at 2nd.
Seeing the bottom teams somewhat active in free agency is good and maybe will lead to a little more parity.
Did you guys miss a decimal point in that salary? Geez, that seems like a lot of money for Diaz…
guarantee is*
This actually seems like a solid move all the way around. Not cheap but he can help in multiple areas>
Best of luck, Aledmys!
WOW! A guy who can’t hit getting $14mil from a team that doesn’t typically spend money. What a move! I would find a new team if I were an A’s fan. What a trash move.
As an Astros fan, I liked what he brings to the team but this is a big overpay.
Seems like a $2m per season overpay, but understand that to get players to commit to a losing franchise you need to buck up (at least in December)… is the piggy bank empty now?
A’s dont have the stars to compete on paper but if they get some pitching from Kaprellian and Waldichuk they could win a few series
It’s interesting how the A’s consistently slightly overpay guys not in particularly high demand.
They’ve done this for years.
They give $4M players $7M they give $8M players $10M, $10M players $13M etc but on 1-2 year deals.
Par for the course.
Oakland is a laughing stock now. They wanted a SS. They could have had one in the Cardinal deal for Murphy paid for, I bet. Now they’ll make a trade for AA or AAA players. Cleveland has a bunch and so do everybody else. The Rays are the best place to trade now. Hurry! LOL!
A’s have SS defensive standout Nick Allen (who’s bat is not what I’d call good) and they typically go defense first at SS, offense first at 2B. Diaz is not pushing Nick Allen off the spot.
Cole Irvin and Paul Blackburn are the only guys they count on being in their rotation for the coming season. They need pitching a lot more than they need shortstops.
I hear the Guardians were a distant third…
Yes! He alone is going to make the inevitable murphy trade for a disappointing return sting way less!