The Astros have signed veteran utility bat Aledmys Diaz to a minor league deal, per a team announcement. Diaz is set to report to the club’s complex in Florida rather than immediately be assigned to a minor league club.
The news is something of a homecoming for Diaz, as he was a key piece in the Astros’ bench mix between the club’s acquisition of him from the Blue Jays during the 2018-19 offseason until he elected free agency following the 2022 season. In his four years with the club, Diaz hit a solid .255/.313/.425 (102 wRC+) while splitting time between all four infield spots as well as the outfield corners. After winning the World Series with Houston in 2022, Diaz hit the open market and signed on with the A’s in a two-year guarantee for a club that has given out multi-year deals in free agency increasingly sparingly throughout their rebuild.
That contract did not go as anyone had hoped. Diaz took a major step back as a semi-regular player in Oakland last year, slashing just .229/.280/.337 with a wRC+ of 72 in 109 games, his most in a season since his time with the Blue Jays half a decade earlier. While his versatility still offered some value for the A’s, the power stroke he flashed in Houston that allowed him to slug 12 homers in 327 trips to the plate during the 2022 season evaporated upon his arrival in Oakland as he slugged just three homers in 2023.
That step back in the power department didn’t leave much hope for the 32-year-old to turn things around and once again become a slightly above average bat with the A’s this year, and his performance in 2024 proved to be nothing short of disastrous. Diaz missed the first two months of the season due to groin and calf issues this year and, upon being activated, appeared in just 12 games for Oakland. In that time, Diaz recorded just three hits (all singles) and walked only once across 30 trips to the plate. That paltry .103/.133/.103 slash line was good for a wRC+ of -31 and led the A’s to release him last week, ending his tenure in Oakland three months early.
For the Astros, the return of Diaz represents a possible depth option for the club’s bench in the event of a rash of injuries. Mauricio Dubon has largely stepped into the role Diaz previously filled on the Houston bench quite admirably, with a .279/.308/.404 slash line and a 97 wRC+ in 744 trips to the plate over the past two seasons. While Dubon has clearly established himself as the club’s preferred utility infielder and it’s even likely that 40-man infielders Jacob Amaya and David Hensley are also above Diaz on the club’s hierarchy, the deal still offers Diaz the opportunity to attempt to work through his struggles in a familiar organization and re-establish himself as a worthwhile depth option for big league clubs headed into free agency this winter.
Can he play 1b? That seems to be one of the Astro’s biggest needs.
Yes he can, but he would be an offensive downgrade from Singleton.
Totally agree. We got rid of him
Because he sucked. In his last playoffs they kept playing him and he was horrible. Batted like .100 we don’t need him
Back please. He will under perform again .
He has played a good trunk of time at first base, and for the Astros at that. The issue is he hasn’t been playing well since he left the Astros, and I don’t see any evidence that he would out-perform Jon Singleton or any of the current 1B options (Dubon, Loperfido, Cabage).
He had a horrible post season with the Astros
He can’t outplay and outhit singleton . If was any good still he would be playing for someone like Seattle or the white Sox .
I liked Aledmys when was here. Houston is looking at available first basemen. I feel focused more towards Walker of Arizona. But it saying David Hensley is above Aledmys. Hensley when was here not impressive. But even if Aledmys reestablishes himself most likely does with us but would he be useful to another team even later. I know Dubon has taken off as our utility player. But wish Aledmys well in his comeback run
Dubon is 10 times better than Diaz in the field abd can play a quality CF. Something Diaz can’t . Do.
and Dubon strikes out way less than Diaz. We got rid of him when he left . He didn’t ledge on his own. Stros don’t need any more retreads.
“After winning the World Series with Houston in 2022”
Every commenter’s 9/11 lol
Oh, shut up.