The Rockies cut catcher Elias Diaz loose earlier this week after he went unclaimed on waivers, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants are among the teams with some interest now that Diaz is a free agent who could be signed for the prorated league minimum. (San Francisco also had some interest in Diaz prior to the trade deadline, per Slusser.) So long as Diaz signs on or before Aug. 31, he’d be eligible for his new club’s postseason roster.
The Giants just placed Patrick Bailey on the injured list yesterday with an oblique strain, severely compromising the team’s catching depth. San Francisco called up journeyman Jakson Reetz in a corresponding move to Bailey’s IL placement, and they’ll use Reetz as their No. 2 catcher behind backup-turned-starter Curt Casali, at least for now. Casali, 35, was a midseason signing himself and has only produced a .205/.318/.233 batting line in 86 plate appearances. The 28-year-old Reetz is just 2-for-16 in 17 MLB plate appearances and was batting .254/.368/.431 (102 wRC+) in a hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting prior to his recall to the big leagues.
Diaz would represent an upgrade over that tandem in virtually every capacity. While it’d be a stretch to call him even an average offensive contributor, given his lackluster power output and perennially middling on-base percentages, Diaz has solid contact skills and can typically hit for a fairly empty batting average at the very least. He batted .270/.315/.378 this year in Colorado (80 wRC+) and carries a .251/.304/.388 slash in 2010 plate appearances dating back to the 2019 season.
Defensively, Diaz has typically drawn good grades for his ability to block pitches in the dirt, and he’s regularly posted average or better numbers in terms of caught-stealing rate. He’s frequently been panned for poor pitch-framing skills, but he’s delivered a career-best performance in that regard this season and been credited with plus overall glovework as a result (5 Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average alike).
Even with those defensive improvements, Diaz can’t hold a candle to the injured Bailey’s glovework — although that’s true of virtually every defender in the sport. The 25-year-old Bailey has quickly emerged as the sport’s premier defensive catcher — and one of its premier defenders at any position — drawing the best framing marks of anyone in MLB and thwarting a hefty 30% of stolen-base attempts against him since his big league debut. Drilling down further, Bailey is the best in the sport in Statcast’s “caught stealing above average” metric, which contextualizes stolen base attempts based on who’s running, who’s on the mound and what type of jump the runner gets — rather than treating them all as equal. (Throwing out Elly De La Cruz when he has an outstanding jump, after all, is far more difficult than throwing out Hunter Renfroe on the back end of a double-steal attempt.)
After a strong start to the season with the bat, Bailey’s offense has tanked in the past six weeks or so, leaving him with a .233/.299/.344 slash on the season. That might make Diaz look like an upgrade offensively at the very least, but it should be pointed out that Diaz himself has floundered in the batter’s box of late as well. A calf strain cost Diaz three weeks in June, and in the time between his return and his eventual DFA, he hit only .208/.243/.264 in 111 plate appearances.
That said, Diaz has a track record of putting the ball in play and delivering offense that, while below that of a league-average bat, is generally solid relative to fellow catchers (who tend to be below-average hitters on the whole, in large part given the physical demands of the position). And given the in-house alternatives with Bailey on the shelf, it’s fairly logical that the Giants would have interest in placing a bet on that track record as they look to stay afloat in a tightly contested chase for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Braves currently hold that third Wild Card spot, but they’re only 2.5 games up on the Mets and 3.5 games ahead of the Giants.
The Giants are a disaster
Ha ha. No they aren’t. Lazy, dumb hyperbole.
Haha we are still a disaster, but this heaping pile of garbage hitters are starting to play better of late (thank you Fitz.)
Diaz would certainly be an upgrade over Reetz, so it’s a no risk flier
Nope. Just another team in the middle of the pack that is banging away. “Disaster” is just plain dumb.
if its hyperbole why you taking it literally? read a book foppert, you bring nothing to the table
Because there is no indication it wasn’t written literally. Your little contribution isn’t exactly offering much
disasters are hurricanes, floods, droughts, being illiterate. Come on, I’ll hold your hand
Ha ha. Trying to play the intellectual on the internet.
Yeah mate. You got me. It wasn’t lazy or dumb.. You were just operating at a level above me. My bad.
Do you know how to do anything other than heap praise on Farhan and attack anyone who is critical of his horrible management and decision making? Try to stay on your kangaroo you obviously have fallen off a few times and hit your head.
The Jesse foppert of baseball takes !
Wtp is clearly a cuck
You’re soft
Johnny Disaster.
This cannot be right. Steve Adams said specifically in his chat the Giants would not be interested.
They are now after Patrick Bailey went on the IL.
Hopefully this won’t work out as well for the Giants as when the Rockies gave them Marco Scutaro which gave them the 2012 WS title because he changed into prime Joe Morgan for them.
Feel like only Giants, Rockies and Cardinals fans remember who Marco Scutaro was…but what a legend
What does this even mean
Marco Scutaro was an unheralded journeyman player who bounced around most of his early career and at the 2012 deadline the Giants acquired him from the Rockies and he went on to hit almost .400 down the stretch for them, including .500 in the NLCS against the Cardinals. He helped the Giants win the WS that year and even made the ASG in 2013 but just one of those players whose probably more or less forgotten by all but a few teams
He had some good years for Boston also.
I’ll always remember when Sabean got him at the deadline it was one of those ‘what the heck is Sabes doing here?’ and it was the steal of the deadline. Outside of trading Zack Wheeler for Carlos Beltran in 2011 it felt like every single move Sabean made from 2010 – 2014 was a slam dunk
The Bryan Reynolds for Andrew McCutchen had to sting a little too. Edit: never mind that was 2018. Seems like much longer.
That being said, I wish the Rockies GM could learn to use prospects as currency to help the big league club too. Seems like even in good years, they get one middle reliever and that’s about it. And enough has already been said about them not using the deadline well in bad years.
They might squeeze into the last wild card. They certainly have the pitching
I think the Braves hold on tbh (maybe still pessimistic over the fact the Giants couldn’t win one of the one run extra inning games) but it’s possible. I already feel confident saying the Dodgers, Padres and Dbacks are going to account for the NL West crown and two WC spots with the Braves, Mets and Giants fighting for that last spot.
12 games left against SD and AZ, so anything can happen. I feel like the Giants offense will continue to sputter against good teams though
It’s more with RISP. I’ve never seen anything like it tbh
I don’t want to sound like I’m beating a dead horse, because I’ve said this a couple times already, but I think the hitting coaches need to go. The Giants’ hitters seem to have an all or nothing approach. Chapman struck out with runners at 2nd and 3rd, and no outs today, and it looked like he was swinging for the fences instead of taking some swing out, and putting the ball in play. And their over-aggressive approach seems to result in far too many 1 pitch outs, or worse, 1 pitch DPs. Not being able to get a runner in from 3rd with less than 2 outs has cost them wins this season.
@Jean Matrac: Great observations
Per sources it was Outright Waivers; his five years of MLB service means he can reject an assignment to the Minors if unclaimed. This how he became a free agent.
He may take an assignment if he feels there’s a realistic shot he can get back to the majors with that club (as long as Bailey is on the IL it’s very possible he could for the Giants).
I roll my eyes at the thought of someone trading for a catcher midseason who hits like prime Mike Piazza for a couple months and the GM being crowned “innovative” just because the rest of the industry decided that trading for a catcher midseason was a bad idea based on “vibes”
MickeyTheMod MUTED for hypocrisy.
Check out that guy…he looks so judgemental.
Looks like the Giants might be mining for gold with Elias Díaz—hoping he can catch lightning in a bottle just in time to save their playoff hopes!
I think it makes a lot of sense if Bailey is gonna be on the IL for a little while. His bat can’t be worse than Casali or Reetz (no knock on Casali whose an adequate backup catcher though).
Farhan must truly hate Blake Sabol
and we all know he hated Bart, who currently has .276 av .866 ops and 12hr..sounds like his current prize backup catcher in Murphy’s not coming back..what a waste!
Ya. I will say the Bart rebirth had to happen somewhere else. It wasn’t happening in SF. Too much drama/trama from Kapler years.
Very happy he is doing well. I’m still mad about Bryan Reynolds though.
PLEASE PLEASE leave the Bart comments out. He’s playing well with Pitt BUT because he became the full time catcher. Full time. That’s greatly contributed to his success. Early he was part time with Pitt. Davis and Grandal were ahead of him. And early he greatly struggled. Was he going to get full playing time with Bailey there. No. So to say his Pitt success would translate to SF success makes ZERO sense. Murphy had a mlb hitters track record vs lefties andthat’s why they got him. To continue to refer to Barts success is blatant hindsight and shows a lack of original thought.
claude, Bart played full time in 2022. And while he was decent that year, at least for a catcher, 87 OPS+, it wasn’t close to what he’s doing now for the Pirates, 141 OPS+.
Bart wasn’t the defensive catcher that Bailey is (nobody is). It just took Bart a while to figure things out. I’m glad to see that he has.
thx Jean but that’s kinda my point. Bailey surpassed him in 23 and was even a gold glove finalist. Therefore he wasn’t going to go back to 3-4 starts every 5 games.Yes, glad to see his success
claude, I agree with what you say about Bailey in 2023. But, my response was based on the implication that Bart did not get regular playing time until he went to the Pirates. I simply pointed out that the Giants gave him regular playing time in 2022, but that he was unable of capitalizing on it. My point was that it wasn’t necessarily regular playing time that he needed, just time to mature and figure things out.
I totally agree with you Jean..Bart just needed the time to mature and figure it out..I think FZ gave up on him prematurely and made the dumb move to sign Murphy..he created his own problem to the point where the Giants had to start the season w/three catchers! Bart had a nice powerful swing and it’s finally showing..
dubtastic, No one can see into future. Had FZ any idea that Bart would break out like he has, he probably wouldn’t have traded him. But Bart gave no indication that he was going to figure things out.
Murphy wasn’t a bad signing. Again, no one could predict he’d suffer an injury that would cost him most of the season. Based on Murphy’s track record as a good hitter/back-up catcher, and lacking evidence that Bart would now start to hit, FZ’s moves are understandable and defensible.
Good points, thanks for opening up a different perspective..I gotta let it go..I was a believer in Bart and am glad he’s figuring it out
One thing I think we all agree on is being happy that Bart is finally finding success, even if it isn’t with the Giants.
He hated Bart ?
Ridiculously juvenile take. Zero indication of that. Just a thought bubble you are promoting as truth because it fits your opinion. Weak as piss.
Keep up that criticism and adding nothing. Multiple people here have told you your comments add nothing yet you continue to blast like you are related to Farhan. Also your best argument for keeping Farhan was because he is a nice guy! No more kangaroo rides for you!
No. You are so dumb. I’ve explained it that many times and you just can’t get it right.
My argument is, and always has been, that Farhan will get replaced when the men with experience and knowledge of their organisation decide to make the change. Simply put, I’m in no position to criticise the man’s work. So I don’t. I’m just a fan with no access to the information that requires. Now I could ignore that basic knowing what you don’t know and showing respect to fellow humans thing. But I don’t, because he is a good guy and doesn’t deserve me sprouting ignorance about him and his role. The owners will speak when it’s time.
I appreciate there is a bit of nuance there, but just read it slowly and I’m sure you will be able to perceive the difference between my position and what you are saying my position is.
Ps. I’m not going anywhere.
Enjoy.
wow, you took my take of FZ hating Bart so literal that it flew over your head! Strike 3, your out! Might want to look up two words: 1.) sarcasm and 2.) hyperbole
Anyone who is a Giants fan and has seen Sabol try and play defense has seen enough of Blake Sabol.
And sadly, Sabol has hit quite poorly in hitter-friendly AAA/PCL – all season long. It’s very disappointing and it’s not getting him called up if there are other options to go with right now. I have no idea if he’s made any progress as a catcher either.
He hit a home run at the game I saw last week.
@tedtheodorelogan You are right casali is much better at defense. You are a true fan. Haha
Farhan Zaidi claiming Blake Sabol in the Rule 5 Draft, and then keeping him on the ML roster all season so they wouldn’t lose him, is such a clear indication that he must hate Sabol.
Haters need to understand that not everybody lives in a perpetual state of hating. It’s just a them thing. Not applicable to normal, intelligent, well adjusted folks. Folks like Zaidi.
Slurp slurp slurp I really hope you get paid for these posts by FZ
lol at slurp slurp slurp. You just can’t stop yourself from revealing your mental age.
ff, what gives you the impression that your fz hatred is universal. It’s blind, and just because you have other posters agreeing with you it’s not comprehensive. Like I said it’s just blind whining unsupported by facts that you believe surpass the knowledge of myself, or foppert, etc. For every fz negative from you ican give 3 positives. Try me.
Their record is the only fact I need to prove my point. They are average at best over last 3 years what more do you need to know?
Judging on the record is over-simplistic, bottom-line analysis, that takes no mitigating factors into account. I’m open to a cogent criticism of Zaidi. Unfortunately I haven’t yet seen one. All I’ve seen from the fire Farhan cult, is a brain dead reference to the record.
One of your crowd tried comparing the Giants to the Dodgers, saying that LA has a plan while SF has none. And what was LA’s plan that was so superior to the Giants? Sign Ohtani and Yamamoto. If I remember correctly that was SF’s plan as well. Those 2 wanted to play in LA. It doesn’t matter who the Giants’ PBO was, neither of those guys were signing with the Giants.
I just wish those that want Zaidi gone would be more specific about what he should have done, who he should have signed. And who was available that would have helped the Giant’s offense. All I get though is “but, but… the record!”
His entire strategy has failed. He wasn’t good enough at drafting and developing to produce the team he thought he could and he hasn’t been able to attract the free agents to make this team a real contender. He could have rebuilt like other teams that are now playoff bound or made better trades to improve the big league team or the farm but everything he has done has been average. The farm when he got there had Luciano, Bart, Ramos, and Matos and he was only able to turn one of those into a potential long term asset while only producing 2 of his own draft picks in 5 years. It took him longer than it should have and he has done a poor job of managing their development which is most evident with Joey Bart and having to make a decision to trade him because he was out of options. I could go on and on but you asked for a few real arguments so think about those for a few minutes before you, foppert, and claude get together another game plan on how to convince us that Farhan has a clue.
“He wasn’t good enough at drafting and developing to produce…”
Too soon to know if that’s the case. His draft picks are still young and only some are getting their first taste of the MLs. And anybody with an understanding of prospects knows that projecting development is extremely difficult, something that all teams fail at occasionally, and that it’s a crapshoot.
“…he hasn’t been able to attract the free agents….”
He’s signed more of the top 50 free agents over the last 2 seasons than any other team. If you mean the very top superstar FAs, like Judge, Ohtani and Harper, it wouldn’t matter who the Giants’ PBO was, they weren’t going to sign with the Giants.
“He could have rebuilt like other teams…or made better trades….”
Rebuilding is a decision beyond Zaidi. Not rebuilding is a team philosophy. It’s been the team philosophy long before Zaidi became PBO. Are you new to being Giants’ fan? Because even the most casual Giants’ fan knows that the Giants don’t rebuild.
And your comment about trades is just so weak. Could there be a more amorphous criticism? how about some specifics? What about his acquiring Estrada for cash? Or trading Haniger for Ray? Or maybe you should name a PBO/GM that is making “better trades”.
Bart is no evidence of anything. Part of his delayed development is his bad luck from Covid preventing any MiL season in 2020. Like other prospects it just took him longer than usual to figure things out. He isn’t the first, and won’t be the last.
None of what you’ve written are “real arguments” What you’ve written is totally lacking specifics. It’s all your conjecture and exhibits a total dearth of understanding of how difficult the job of running a baseball team is.
“I could go on and on…”
So could I.
“…before you, foppert, and claude get together another game plan…”
A conspiracy theory; what a surprise. That’s revealing.
Thanks buddy for knowing everything really awesome that we have you to clear everything up. I really hope you hace season tickets and actually put your money where your mouth is because those of us that like to go to games are sick of everything I just told you that you are too dumb to hear. I can’t spell it out any clearer. You are an ass clown
“Thanks buddy for knowing everything really awesome that we have you to clear everything up.”
Huh? Maybe try writing in English next time.
And like the revealing nature of your idiotic conspiracy theory, your asinine need to depend on childish insults is even more illustrative of your character, and the true value of your opinion.
Ha ha. I love how you have appointed yourself spokesman for so many people. You seem to think you speak for everyone on this forum and now everyone in the stands at Oracle.
How does that come about ? Did people ask you to do that, or is just that teenager mentality of yours coming out to play again ?
Outlook on a player can change after 365 days. Incredible to think
Tom Murphy says “no”!
Giants love catchers, mariners too
So what other teams are interested???
I have an awesome rain globe of Scutaro with his arms open wide and face in the rain during game 7 of the 2012 NLCS when you shake it.
It was a fans’ idea on McCovey Chronicles and it went all the way to a stadium giveaway.
What a great moment that was.
Good move for Giants. I like Diaz, when I saw him play against the Brewers. He is at least a Ham and Egger, maybe a HE+ I do not understand him being DFA rather than traded!