The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired lefty Darwinzon Hernandez from the Red Sox in exchange for cash. First baseman Lewin Diaz was designated for assignment yet again in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 26-year-old Hernandez will give the O’s an arm capable of missing bats at an elite level, but he’s also been plagued by jarring command issues throughout his career. Hernandez has punched out a hefty 32.3% of his opponents in 85 1/3 Major league innings, but that’s accompanied by a disastrous 17.7% walk rate. He still managed a sharp-looking 3.17 ERA in 2020-21, but opponents shelled him for 16 runs in only 6 2/3 innings this past season, bringing his career ERA to an unsightly 5.06. Hernandez has a pair of minor league options remaining and averages better than 95 mph on his heater, however, so the Orioles will hope they can tame some of those command woes and unearth a quality bullpen arm.
For Diaz, this is incredibly his fifth DFA of the offseason. He first went from the Marlins to the Pirates by way of waivers, and the Orioles claimed him (for the first time) from the Buccos shortly thereafter. Baltimore traded Diaz to Atlanta, who designated him for assignment five days later. The O’s claimed him again on Jan. 5, but his latest stint on the Orioles’ 40-man roster will apparently last just five days.
It’s a dizzying whirlwind of transactions that have surely made for a chaotic and unsettling winter for Diaz — a 26-year-old former top prospect who’s yet to have much big league experience at the plate but is regarded as one of the sport’s best defensive first basemen. Diaz is just a .181/.227/.340 hitter in 343 trips to the plate as a big leaguer, but he’s .250/.325/.504 hitter in parts of two Triple-A seasons.
The Orioles have spent the winter trying to add some lefty-swinging depth at first base, hence their two claims of Diaz and their trade for former Royals slugger Ryan O’Hearn, whom they almost immediately designated for assignment. The goal, surely, is to be able to successfully pass players like Diaz and O’Hearn through waivers and retain them as non-roster depth options in the upper minors.
To this point, however, no team has succeeded in getting Diaz through waivers. The allure of his glove and decent power production in the upper minors has continually piqued the interest of other clubs around the league. The Orioles hold the No. 17 waiver priority in the game (determined by last year’s standings), and Diaz has yet to make it past them on the waiver wire (he landed with Atlanta by way of trade, not waiver claim). Time will tell whether the O’s can finally succeed this time around, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Diaz again landed with another club via waivers or a small trade. His DFA will be resolved within a week’s time.
Geez! How many times is Diaz going to get DFA’d?
Diaz: The quintessential hot potato…
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom
Lewin be…[gone]
McCartney, Ringo says hey
Diaz: “How come they don’t want me, man?”
Just like Will’s dad, these teams come around, and then leave him.
Keep Wills dads name out yo mouth trust me
The saddest moment in Fresh Prince history, the first time I saw it my eyes started to water a tad lol
An obscure Fresh Prince reference, my off-season is complete
I wonder what the record is for the number of baseball employers without ever leaving your house?
Diaz is going to set a record for being on the most teams without ever playing a game for any of them. He will have a tough choice for which hat to wear in the HOF
The unmentioned amount of cash??? Any chance it’s 140 million??
olmtiant – Bloom is not getting out of the Story contract that easy! LOL!!
First Eduard Bazardo, then AJ Politi, and now Darwinzon. O’s are raiding Boston’s high minors bullpen depth
“Depth” for Orioles, Excess for Red Sox. They have better pitchers in high minors than them.
Well yeah, that’s why Darwinzon got DFA’d
“raiding” is the word Im having trouble with. If I put something in my garbage and you come and take it are you really ‘raiding’ me?
Fletch – Of all the guys you named, Darwinzon could be the one that really comes back to bite Bloom in the ass. if he turns it around with better control the way Bard, Pomeranz and Miller did, he will be a dominant reliever.
Those comparisons aren’t exactly apples to apples. Darwinzon is just changing orgs. Bard was out of the league for years, Pomeranz changed roles and moved to the bullpen, and Andrew Miller had a year and a half of all-star caliber results in Boston when he was traded. DH has never thrown strikes and I just can’t see him cutting his walk rate in half and getting that down to an acceptable threshold while having electric stuff
If the O’s can get him to rein in the walks this could be a really nice low cost pickup.
More to it than just reining in the walks bluejays92. Watch him over several outings and see how he just seems to not give a flip when he initially does not throw strikes to start an outing.
This isn’t an Andrew Miller situation, where an organization messed up his mechanics and he had to rediscover what worked years before in order to succeed. This is a guy who lacks confidence once he gets behind that 1st batter, then just keeps throwing without giving a flip it looks like.
fastball movement? Tops. Slider moves well and is nasty. it’s easy to see why the Sox have always been excited about him and his mechanics are relatively clean. His issues are all upstairs and I *do* hope he can overcome them with a new organization.
Good take johnsilver. I agree with everything except:
‘Fastball movement? Tops.’
Scouting Report for Politi:
“Fastball: 93-95 mph. Straight and lacks plane, but has been effective against less advanced bats. Control has improved as he has moved up the ladder and now projects as fringe-average. Potential below-average command. Pitch plays below velocity grade due to lack of movement and inconsistent command. Potential solid-average offering.”
https://soxprospects.com/players/politi-andrew.htm
He’s talking about Hernandez who does have great stuff just can’t throw it for strikes and when it starts to go downhill for him in an inning it snowballs the guy has a $.02 head. Great stuff though if he ever harnesses it.
Which one are we discussing here, Darwinzon Hernandez or AJ Politi?
My bad I had ‘Politi’ on the brain.
JS … nice comparison… Andrew miller was dominant for a chunk of change but did net Redsox E ROD…. If it works out for them a little revenge…
John – Your last sentence is 100% correct, and something the Bloom suckups just don’t get. When control is a pitcher’s only issue, it’s either their vision or their mental issues that is the cause of the wildness. Mental issues for pitchers can be corrected just as easily as mental issues for any non-athlete.
I always LMAO when I see all the “Mental Skills” coaches & coordinators on the Sox payroll, more often than not they are totally useless and a waste of money. Most likely they got the cushy BS job because they are friends with Cora or some other team employee.
Someone like Bard giving Dar advice would be so much more beneficial.
When control is a pitcher’s only issue, it’s either their vision or their mental issues that is the cause of the wildness.
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Do you have anything to back that up? It feels like, if it was that easy, every team would do it.
@johnsilver – your entire comment has everything to do with reining in the walks but get all high & mighty…
O’s have been here recently. A lower velocity version of Tanner Scott with a curve ball.
D Hernandez – Good luck in Baltimore. While improperly used by Cora you always put forth your best effort and it was appreciated. There were many among the posters on this site that felt you had a great future as a set-up man.
Best of luck in Baltimore.and congrats on escaping Bloom’s dungeon. I think you’ll find the environment in Baltimore much more like the environment in Boston before Bloom. Upbeat, positive and conducive to winning. In a few years, that organization could be contending for division titles. I wish I could say the same about Boston. They’ll be collecting high draft picks without trying to tank!!
Guy names his account “Pulled a Bloom” and Then writes of “Blooms dungeon”
There are ways to express discontent without seeming like you’re totally insane.
LOL! That boat’s already left the dock.
Diaz is gone … again.
Hopefully Diaz has not bothered to go apartment shopping anywhere.
Great for the Orioles to add another bullpen arm because could always use one more, but still not addressing areas of need (starter, offense).
Meanwhile, Kaleb Ort continues to have a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster…very confusing!
They are going to make a movie out of this.
Maybe a very short children’s book:
P. 1 Here’s Lewin in a Marlins hat. Run Lewin Run.
P. 2 Here’s Lewin in a Pirates hat. Run Lewin Run.
P. 3. Here’s…
I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
Insert Abe Simpson GIF
Looks like we have our next Oliver Drake.
Braves need someone to trade for unknown comp.
Diaz getting passed like a blunt lmao
Like a slow burn dutch sealed with wax and topped with keef!
Schrodinger’s Lewin Diaz: he is simultaneously on the 40-man and DFA’d. Quantum slugging is fascinating stuff.
Maybe this will be the motivation Lewin needs to tap into that raw power. Rooting for the kid! With his defense, even if he becomes a 15-20 HR bat, he can be a solid regular for a long time
Whenever and wherever Lewin Diaz next MLB AB comes i hope his walk up music is “I’ve been everywhere” by Johnny Cash
Guy’s been on half a dozen MLB rosters the past two months and he doesn’t have a single jersey or ballcap to show for it.
That didn’t take long. Watch them put him on the injured list at the start of the season. Then they can work on his delivery. Boy oh boy if he could get that delivery refined….
Finally Hernandez is off the roster. I do hope someone with the O’s can turn him around, he has decent breaking pitches but he has no idea how to control them and once he starts getting into trouble the wheels fall off.
It’s a shame the Sox couldn’t figure him out because there is some talent there, but man was he ever a disaster for them.
telling to DFA a MLB experienced younger lefty arm and can only get cash for him. Looks like the Os have a project on their hands. Took a peak at his stats. One positive, other than high KO%, looks like he doesn’t give up dingers all that much.
That’s precisely where the two remaining options come into play. It certainly seems as if the Red Sox have given up on him by giving him the DFA in spite of his natural talents yet to be fully harnessed. WIth that being said, why keep 31-year old Kaleb Ort? Surely Hernandez has greater upside as he’s 4 years younger.
Ort’s a better pitcher, and can help the team this year. Age is immaterial when looking for a fringe player who can help now.
Hernandez can’t throw strikes.
That’s extremely important. I don’t know that Elias can fix him but he’s very intriguing. Guys who havent thrown any strikes their entire career typically don’t figure that out though.
Be great if he did but I think we’re going to be looking at a more frustrating Tanner Scott here.
Ort’s a better pitcher, and can help the team this year.
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Yup. I’m not sure why everyone is in awe of Darwin’s velocity when Ort might throw harder, with a bit more control, albeit four years older.
Poor Diaz is going to need a mental health professional to help him with deal intense feelings of rejection.
Players should get a couple thousand bucks everytime they’re claimed. Might help them.
DiazFA.