The Orioles have claimed first baseman Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Pirates, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
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.
The Orioles have been looking for a left-handed bat who can play some first base and perhaps in the outfield corners, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Diaz won’t help in the latter regard, but he’ll give them a lefty bat who can spend some time at first base — if he makes it to Spring Training on the 40-man roster, that is. He’s already been jettisoned from a pair of teams so far this offseason, and it’s possible the O’s consider him a temporary safety net while they continue to hunt for a more established option (as was seemingly the case with the Pirates, who designated Diaz for assignment after signing Carlos Santana).
Diaz is out of minor league options, so he’ll either have to make a team’s Opening Day roster next year or eventually be passed through waivers unclaimed, at which point that team could then stash him Triple-A without committing a 40-man roster spot.
That’s exactly right. This is just a safety net option. However, I believe they already had 39 on the 40 man and there should be a corresponding move prior to the rule 5 draft.
Defensively Diaz seems like an upgrade over Ryan Mountcastle at 1B and with Odor likely gone would replace the lefty power bat, worst case he has bad spring and they cut him loose
He was awful on the Pirates. Good luck with the O’s.
He never had a single at bat as a pirate.
He forgot we aren’t playing The Show
I like to think that was a joke, Lars
Run with it @tiredolddude. I’ll go get the popcorn to enjoy the show. Lol.
@LarsAnderson
Yeah that’s because there was a mix up and he got sent to somalia instead of Pittsburgh.
Easy mistake. The Somalians have a better team
Lots of people predicted this in the last thread.
It’ll be an interesting off-season for Lefty bats, with the new shift rule, I’m sure all front offices have various 40 man targets on other rosters to target.
ME has been very specific about Lefty bats, and between the Left field wall, and the shift eliminated, I expect the O’s to value Lefty bats higher than most through the off-season. Idk
When you have to sift through the Pirates’ dumpster…
Meaningless comment. They chose to pick up a certain player who was waived. Teams do this all the time.
Yes but the Pirates fill out their 40 man roster using waiver claims
That’s too bad as it was clearly meant to be an exceptionally meaningful comment.
The kind you quote to your kids before sending them off to college or read to your parents on their deathbed.
Appreciate the feedback.
Guess I’ll have to workshop it a bit more.
The Astros picked up former Oriole Rylan Bannon.
The Phillies picked up Jake Cave from the Orioles.
The two World Series teams picked up players from the Orioles’ dumpster. So that means they suck, according to your estimation.
Both pedantic and literalist. Good times.
Enjoy your life.
I enjoyed your comment not only for the sarcasm but also the biting irony within. Don’t know if I’d relate it to someone on their deathbed but ok
Say stupid stuff, expect to be corrected for it.
And, such a thin skin that even days later…
My condolences to those in your zip code, the poor souls.
Comedy is not for everyone. It certainly isn’t for you. Just give up on trying.
Meaningless comment.
You do a good job of proving my point.
Can you list some people or things that you do find funny?
Nice pickup. Fantastic defensively and could be a 700 ops guy vs rhp. It’s a good sign for the pirates rebuild that they couldn’t find a spot for him. He would have been starting for them back in August September.
Wonder if he will go into the HOF as a Pirate.
I was hoping he’d make it through waivers and the Bucs could keep him as a depth piece. After years of not having a good glove at 1B it would have been nice to have him around.
Smart move. What a waste of a prospect status