The Mariners announced that left-hander Jhonathan Díaz has been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma, indicating that he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment last week when Seattle acquired Cooper Criswell from the Mets. Díaz has the right to elect free agency but the Mariners did not indicate whether or not he would do so.
Díaz, 29, has appeared in five big league seasons but with limited action in each one. He pitched 15 1/3 innings or less in each, bringing him to a combined total of 46 1/3 innings, with 4.66 earned runs allowed per nine.
Some websites list Díaz as still having a minor league option but he was optioned for extended stretches throughout the 2022, 2024 and 2025 seasons. Teams are sometimes granted a fourth option on a player but only if they don’t have five “full” professional seasons, where a “full” season is defined as 90 active days. Díaz first reached full season ball way back in 2017 and has been fairly active since then, so he shouldn’t qualify for a fourth option.
Regardless of his option status, he was facing a tough path to a rotation gig in Seattle. The Mariners have a strong front five consisting of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. The depth isn’t amazing but the M’s added Criswell and also have Logan Evans, Emerson Hancock and Blas Castano on the roster. They have added Dane Dunning and Randy Dobnak via minor league deals.
Díaz would have been somewhere in that mix but got squeezed out and the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. His minor league numbers aren’t bad, considering that he has been pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Over the past three years, he has thrown 343 1/3 innings in that league with a 4.33 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and ground balls on roughly half the balls in play he allowed.
The lefty has a previous outright in his career, which means he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. Since he just cleared waivers, it’s apparent that no club is willing to give him a 40-man spot, so he would be limited to minor league offers. With spring training just around the corner, it’s possible he decides to simply stick with the Mariners, which would give them some extra rotation depth.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
Think of Jamie Moyer 30 years ago….batting practice pitcher, except with poor results
Jamie Moyer accumulated 50 bWAR in his career, started 638 major league games, and won 269. (103 ERA+)
Jhonathan Diaz accumulated .1 bWAR (so far), started 7 games, and won 2.. (92 ERA+)
Think of Barry Bonds, but as a pitcher… and with somewhat weaker results.
You had me until the weird Barry Bonds comment.
So looking into this, Diaz is a soft tosser that tries to get a lot of ground ball outs. That sounds like a Jamie Moyer with poor results to me.
I’m guessing that you do not remember the bad Jamie Moyer, and what he was like before Dick Bosman fixed him in Baltimore
I didn’t follow baseball that closely before Moyer came to Seattle.
It just seems to me that 1/2 of minor-league depth arms could be classified as “Jamie Moyer with worse results.”
And most of the other 1/2 would be “Randy Johnson but can’t hit the side of a barn.”
Beyond fastball velocity, we aren’t really capturing anything about any of them.
Will this article replace the app glitch one involving him and the Blue Jays?
You too?
I thought it was only me.
First time
I was thinking being outrighted by Seattle is better than repeatedly getting released by Toronto.
Is this the guy that always is on top of the feed when it’s loading?
It is a different J Diaz.
The “glitch is Jonathan, this is Jhonathan, sadly I feel the glitch will stay in place. ha ha ha
So this would be the son of the glitch.
Man, this guy must really love Frisko Freeze or something in Tacoma. Whatever it is, happy enough that him and the Mariners seem to have what is getting to be a long standing mutual enjoyment of each other’s company.
At this point his chances of having a major league career is fairly slim I imagine. He is probably pretty well settled in Tacoma so why move? If someone would have offered him a decent raise or a better chance to play up he probably would have taken it. Doubt a lateral transfer had much appeal. That is what I would be thinking if I was him.
barrelup, you just accomplished a first on this site. You mentioned Frisco Freeze. Doubt it’s been done before. A Tacoma icon. Burgers, fries, milkshakes, it’s all really good!
Frisco Freeze is mediocre, even for what it is, and the wait times and poor service add insult to the injury. Frisco Freeze is best appreciated from a passing car, on the way to Tacoma General, where an organ or two are scheduled for removal.
Quickies Too is by far the greatest restaurant in Tacoma. Unfortunately,they no longer have dine-in, and it isn’t fast, but it’s worth it.
Tacoma used to have an issue with all the food in and around the Freeway. You had to eat with the Aroma of Tacoma inundated into all the food. Remember as a kid ate at a Mickie Ds I think and the pop even tasted like it. I haven’t eaten there often but at least the Aroma is gone. Used to be a pulp mill along the Freeway. Was the worst one I can remember.
Mispelt Jonathan
Not trying to be mean….does the head in the BR picture really belong to a 6ft 170lb man? He must resemble a meatball on a stick…..
Diaz is short on alternatives even if he has his five years in. Security, and belonging has its own reward. Especially if you love the game. In a different time they would play for the familiar spring smell of green grass having been mowed. Play ball was all that mattered.