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Lewin Diaz

KBO’s Samsung Lions Sign Lewin Diaz

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The Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed first baseman Lewin Díaz (relayed on X by Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). The CAA Sports client receives a $50K salary with up to $20K in incentives for the stretch run. The Lions also paid a $100K release fee to the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, the Mexican League team with which Díaz had been playing. Samsung waived outfielder Ruben Cardenas in a corresponding move.

Díaz, 27, was an MLBTR staple during the 2022-23 offseason. He changed teams via waivers or minor trade four times that winter. The Orioles eventually succeeded in sneaking him through waivers and kept him in Triple-A for all of last season. Díaz had a decent year in the minors, hitting .268/.362/.442, but never got an MLB look from Baltimore. He qualified for minor league free agency over the winter and signed a non-roster deal with the Nationals.

Washington released Díaz at the end of camp. He didn’t land another affiliated deal, instead making the move to Mexico. The left-handed hitter has mashed at a .376/.452/.647 clip with 19 homers across 75 games in that very hitter-friendly league.

Díaz was a fairly well-regarded prospect with the Twins early in his pro career. Minnesota dealt him to the Marlins as part of a deal for reliever Sergio Romo in 2019. Díaz didn’t hit major league pitching over parts of three seasons in Miami, running a .181/.227/.340 slash in 112 games. He has been an above-average Triple-A batter, posting a .258/.341/.479 mark in nearly 1200 plate appearances at the level.

Nationals Release Lewin Díaz

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The Nationals have released first baseman Lewin Díaz, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been in camp on a minor league deal but was reassigned to minor league camp on March 17. It’s unknown if he triggered an opt-out or was simply let go, but the result is that he is now back on the open market.

Díaz, 27, signed a minors pact with the Nats back in December. At that time, the club had Joey Meneses as its primary guy in the first base/designated hitter mix. But since then, they have added veterans Joey Gallo, Jesse Winker and Eddie Rosario to the roster, crowding the path to playing time for Díaz. He hit a couple of home runs this spring and slashed .231/.259/.538 for a wRC+ of 103.

It seems fair to expect Diaz to latch on somewhere else, as he was very popular last offseason. From November of 2022 to January of 2023, he went from the Marlins to the Pirates, Orioles, Braves and Orioles again, either on waivers or cash deals. The O’s eventually passed him through waivers and he spent the 2023 season with Triple-A Norfolk. He hit 17 home runs in 118 games for the Tides, drew walks at a 12.4% clip and limited his strikeouts to 19.7%. His .268/.362/.442 batting line translated to a 103 wRC+, matching his recent spring output.

Diaz is considered a strong defensive first baseman, having accrued 16 Defensive Runs Saved and 9 Outs Above Average in just 753 2/3 innings, roughly half a season. He would be a solid option if the bat is in good form but he unfortunately hasn’t been able to get it going in the majors just yet, having hit .181/.227/.340 in his 343 plate appearances.

Despite that poor performance against bit league pitching, he should garner interest. He’s hit .258/.340/.479 at Triple-A over the past three years, 110 wRC+. That comes with a .277 batting average on balls in play whereas his major league work has been held down by a .213 BABIP. Given his strong defense, he could be a solid contributor with a bit more luck from the baseball gods. Based on how many clubs tried to grab him last winter, it seems fair to expect some of them to come calling again.

Nationals Sign Lewin Diaz To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have signed first baseman Lewin Diaz to a minor league deal, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. The deal reportedly comes with an invite to minor league Spring Training.

Diaz, 27, signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic back in 2014. After several years with Minnesota that saw him advance to the Double-A level, Diaz was swapped to the Marlins in exchange for Sergio Romo during the 2019 season. From there, it wouldn’t be long until Diaz made his big league debut as he received a 14 game cup of coffee at the big league level during the shortened 2020 season. He struggled in his first taste of big league action, slashing a paltry .154/.195/.205 with a wRC+ of just 9 across his first 41 plate appearances in the majors.

That meager production didn’t stop Miami from sticking with Diaz as a left-handed bat off the bench over the next two seasons however. From 2021 to 2022, Diaz garnered 302 plate appearances for the Marlins across 98 games. He managed to hold his own somewhat in 2021 with a .217/.270/.518 slash line in 89 trips to the plate against right-handed pitching, though his numbers against southpaws remained abysmal. Unfortunately for Diaz and the Marlins, the first baseman’s fortunes turned in 2022, when he slashed just .164/.224/.288 with a wRC+ of 44 in 174 trips to the plate.

After parts of three seasons in the big leagues with little to show for it, Diaz was designated for assignment by the Marlins early in the 2022-23 offseason. He rode the transactional carousel throughout much of the offseason last year, moving from Miami to Pittsburgh to Baltimore on the waiver wire before being traded to Atlanta and returning to the Orioles on waivers. Baltimore eventually managed to sneak Diaz through waivers successfully in mid-January and outrighted him to Triple-A as a potential lefty hitting complement to Ryan Mountcastle, though the club ended up utilizing the breakout of Ryan O’Hearn to fill that gap on the roster rather than Diaz’s services.

That left Diaz to spend the entire 2023 season in the minor leagues, where he slashed a solid .268/.362/.442 across 118 games. The solid season at Triple-A continued Diaz’s track record of solid work at the level; the lefty owns a slash line of .258/.341/.479 across 274 career games at the level. Now, Diaz is poised to join a Nationals club that recently saw Dominic Smith depart the organization for free agency. This spring, he’ll likely have the opportunity to earn a spot as the club’s first baseman, a role which he’ll likely compete with Joey Meneses for barring further external additions.

Orioles Outright Lewin Díaz

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The Orioles announced that first baseman Lewin Díaz has cleared outright waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. He will stick in the organization but without taking up a roster spot.

This move will finally bring some semblance of stability to a wild offseason for Díaz, who recently turned 26. He began the offseason with the Marlins but was designated for assignment in November. He was claimed off waivers by the Pirates but they then designated him a week later. The Orioles claimed him in early December but only kept him on the roster for another three weeks, giving him his third DFA in the span of about a month. He was traded to the Braves for cash, though they gave him his fourth DFA of the winter about a week after that. The Orioles claimed him a second time in early January and then designated him once more last week, though Díaz has finally passed through unclaimed this time. Though Díaz would have probably liked to have held a roster spot, he now at least knows which team’s Spring Training camp he’ll be reporting to next month.

The O’s have seemingly been hellbent on stashing some left-handed non-roster depth this winter. They acquired Ryan O’Hearn from the Royals for cash considerations and later passed him through waivers and have now got Díaz through as well. Both those players will seemingly be battling each other for the right to get back onto the roster at some point when injuries or underperformance from other players make it necessary. For now, the club will be going into the season with right-handed hitting Ryan Mountcastle as the primary option at first base, with the designated hitter role likely going to Anthony Santander or one of the other outfielders.

Díaz has been somewhat inconsistent in his career thus far, with his strengths making him just appealing enough to get interest from multiple clubs around the league but his weaknesses preventing him from clinging to a roster spot for long. On the strong side, he’s an excellent defender at first base. In 112 big league games thus far, he’s registered 16 Defensive Runs Saved and nine Outs Above Average, while Ultimate Zone Rating has given him a 3.4. He’s also hit very well in the minors over the past couple of seasons. In 156 Triple-A games in 2021 and 2022, he’s hit 39 home runs and produced a batting line of .250/.325/.504 for a wRC+ of 115.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to come close to that in the majors thus far. Through 343 plate appearances in the big leagues, he’s hit 13 home runs but walked at a paltry 5.5% rate and slashed .181/.227/.340 for a wRC+ of 54. He’s also now out of options, meaning he provides less roster flexibility going forward.

Those factors have all combined to send Díaz on the strange ordeal he’s endured over the past few months. Several teams have been enticed by his glove and strong minor league offense, but his major league track record has continually squeezed him off rosters. After months of being passed around, the next steps are much more clear. He’ll report to the O’s and try to get back to the big leagues, either for Opening Day or at some point as the season goes along.

Orioles Acquire Darwinzon Hernandez, Designate Lewin Diaz

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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.

Orioles Claim Lewin Diaz, Designate Ryan O’Hearn For Assignment

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The Orioles have claimed Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Braves and designated first baseman Ryan O’Hearn for assignment in a corresponding move, according to a team announcement.

It’s the second time this offseason that the O’s have claimed Diaz off waivers. It’s a bit surprising to see them designate O’Hearn as the corresponding move, given that he was only acquired from the Royals a couple days ago, though the O’s also surely expect that O’Hearn would accept an outright assignment if they can pass him through waivers, as rejecting it in favor of free agency would mean forfeiting his $1.4MM salary. That salary could even help the O’s get O’Hearn through waivers, at which point they’d be able to have both lefty-hitting first basemen in the organization as depth options.

To call this a tumultuous offseason for Diaz would be an understatement. He’s been designated for assignment by four different clubs and claimed off waivers four times — twice by the Orioles now. Although he’s just a .181/.227/.340 hitter in 343 Major League plate appearances, Diaz is a 26-year-old former top prospect with above-average power who is also arguably the best defensive first baseman in the Majors. It’s led teams to continue to pluck him off waivers — the O’s, Pirates and Braves have all done so — though the general hope by the claiming team seems to be that it can succeed at passing him through waivers and retaining him as a depth piece without committing a 40-man spot.

To this point, that hasn’t happened yet, which surely makes for a frustrating situation for the player. Diaz surely would prefer to know where he’ll be reporting to Spring Training and where he might call home next season, but the offseason carousel hasn’t allowed that to happen. Given that the O’s are still looking to make some additions to their 40-man roster, it’s eminently plausible that a subsequent move — be it the signing of a veteran pitcher or another waiver claim in the coming weeks — will again push Diaz into DFA limbo. Even if he makes it to Spring Training, Diaz is out of minor league options, so the Orioles will need to carry him on the Opening Day roster or once again attempt to pass him through waivers.

As for O’Hearn, he was traded from Kansas City to Baltimore following his first DFA, so he’s yet to even hit the waiver wire once. The 29-year-old turned heads as a rookie in 2018 when he debuted with a thunderous .262/.333/.597 batting line and a dozen homers in 170 plate appearances, but he’s never come close to those levels again. Over the past four seasons, O’Hearn is a .211/.282/.351 hitter who’s fanned in 26.9% of his plate appearances. His struggles are particularly pronounced against left-handed pitching, but he’s been sub-par against righties as well.

The Orioles’ hope in acquiring O’Hearn could simply be that a change of scenery and the league’s new limitations on infield shifts will help O’Hearn get more out of his pull-happy approach at the plate. He consistently rates among the league’s best in terms of exit velocity and hard contact — never more so than in 2022. This past season, even while posting an ugly .239/.290/.321 slash, O’Hearn averaged 92.1 mph off the bat and launched 48% of his batted balls at a velocity of at least 95 mph.

Baltimore has been seeking lefty hitters who can help out at first base throughout the offseason, and at least for the time being, they’ve snagged a pair of them — likely with the ultimate hope of stashing both in Triple-A without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to either.

Braves Acquire Lucas Luetge From Yankees

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The Braves announced they’ve acquired reliever Lucas Luetge from the Yankees. Minor leaguers Caleb Durbin and Indigo Diaz are headed back in return. To clear a spot on their 40-man roster, Atlanta designated first baseman Lewin Díaz for assignment.

New York surprisingly designated Luetge for assignment last Wednesday. That opened a one-week window for them to trade him or place him on waivers, but the former outcome always seemed likelier. The veteran southpaw has been a productive piece of the New York bullpen over the past two years, so it’s no surprise to see a team part with some minor league talent to keep him off waivers.

Luetge, 35, pitched two seasons in the Bronx after signing a minor league deal during the 2020-21 offseason. Over his time in pinstripes, he put together a 2.71 ERA through 129 2/3 frames. That included a sub-3.00 mark in both years, with Luetge topping 55 innings in each season. His 2022 campaign saw him put together a 2.67 mark across 57 1/3 frames, striking out a solid 23.9% of opponents against a better than average 6.8% walk rate.

The veteran has held left-handed opponents to a .229/.281/.324 line in 185 plate appearances since joining the Yankees. Righties have a .268/.320/.395 slash that’s better but not overwhelming, meaning Luetge doesn’t have to be leveraged solely against same-handed hitters. He doesn’t throw hard but he’s been excellent at staying off barrels. Only 23.5% of batted balls against him this past season were hit hard, per Statcast; that’s the lowest rate of any qualified pitcher in the game.

Luetge has between four and five years of major league service. He’s arbitration-eligible for the next two seasons, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $1.7MM salary in 2023. He’ll add a third southpaw to what should be a very strong Atlanta relief corps, with A.J. Minter and Dylan Lee on hand for higher-leverage work.

The acquisition bumps Lewin Díaz off the 40-man roster and back into DFA limbo. That’s familiar territory for the 26-year-old first baseman, who has changed organizations four times this winter. He’s gone from the Marlins to the Pirates to the Orioles via waivers, and Atlanta just purchased his contract from Baltimore last week.

The Braves will now have a week to deal Díaz or try to pass him through waivers, so it’s possible he changes teams again in the coming days. A left-handed hitter, he’s a .181/.227/.340 hitter through 112 MLB games. Díaz has a more impressive .250/.325/.504 mark in just under 700 Triple-A plate appearances, though. He’s also regarded as a plus defender at first base, with public defensive metrics very bullish on his early-career work at the position. That’s led to a decent amount of interest around the league, though Díaz hasn’t yet stuck on a 40-man roster very long this winter.

As for the Yankees, they’ll bring in some minor league talent. Indigo Diaz was a 27th-round pick in the 2019 draft. He entered the 2022 campaign as the #21 prospect in the Atlanta system, according to Baseball America. The 24-year-old spent the whole season at Double-A Mississippi, posting a 3.08 ERA through 49 2/3 innings of relief. The 6’5″ righty struck out nearly 30% of opposing hitters but walked batters at a huge 14.6% clip. Diaz went unselected in this offseason’s Rule 5 draft and adds some non-roster bullpen depth to the upper minors in New York.

Durbin went in the 14th round in the 2021 draft. He split this past season between two A-ball levels, hitting .241/.352/.372 across 450 plate appearances with matching 10.9% strikeout and walk rates. A right-handed hitter, Durbin split his time between second, third base and shortstop. He turns 23 in February and won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until after the 2024 campaign.

Braves Acquire Lewin Diaz From Orioles

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The Braves have acquired first baseman Lewin Díaz from the Orioles for cash, according to announcements from both teams. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count jumps to 39.

Díaz has bounced around the league in the past few weeks. Designated for assignment by the Marlins in advance of the deadline to add prospects to the 40-man to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft, Díaz has moved from the Pirates to the Orioles on successive waiver claims. Baltimore took him off their roster yesterday upon signing Mychal Givens, and his stint in the organization proves exceptionally brief.

Atlanta is near the bottom of the waiver order, so they jumped the line by sending some cash to Baltimore. In the process, they’ll add a player who’s clearly of interest to a few teams around the league. Díaz hasn’t managed much of an MLB track record, but he’s shown enough as a minor leaguer to have some appeal to clubs.

A left-handed hitting first baseman, he’s managed just a .181/.227/.340 line in 112 MLB games with Miami. Díaz took a personal-high 174 trips to the plate in 2022, posting a .169/.224/.288 slash with a 31% strikeout rate. He showed better during a more extended stretch at Triple-A Jacksonville, hitting .252/.323/.492 with 19 home runs and a 20.4% strikeout percentage across 368 plate appearances.

An aggressive offensive approach has given Díaz problems to this stage of his MLB career. He was a quality prospect for an extended stretch in the Miami farm system, though, with evaluators praising his power upside and defensive acumen. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have loved his glovework during his 753 2/3 MLB innings to date. He’s exclusively a first baseman, so despite the quality of his defense, he’ll need the bat to carry him if he’s to hold a roster spot. Atlanta obviously has Matt Olson entrenched at the position; Díaz will try to carve out a depth role behind him.

The 26-year-old is out of minor league option years. If the Braves carry him on their 40-man roster for the rest of the offseason, they’ll have to keep him in the majors or again expose him to other teams. It’s possible Atlanta tries to sneak him through waivers at some point before Spring Training, though no team has yet been successful in that attempt.

Orioles Designate Lewin Díaz For Assignment

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The Orioles have announced their deal with reliever Mychal Givens, making it official. In a corresponding move, first baseman Lewin Díaz has been designated for assignment.

Díaz, 26, was originally signed by the Twins and was highly-touted as a prospect due to his power bat and strong first base defense. Baseball America ranked him one of the top 30 Minnesota farmhands in four straight seasons from 2015 to 2018. The Twins flipped him to the Marlins in a 2019 trade that sent Sergio Romo and Chris Vallimont the other way.

Díaz has spent the past few seasons in the Marlins’ system, hitting well in the upper levels of the minors but struggling in the majors. Over the past three MLB seasons, he’s made 343 plate appearances but has a paltry .181/.227/.340 batting line to show for it. In Triple-A over the past two seasons, however, he’s hit 39 home runs in 680 plate appearances and has a much more palatable .250/.325/.504 line. That production was 15% better than league average, as evidenced by his 115 wRC+.

On the defensive side of things, his big league numbers are much more positive. He always was graded well for his glove work as a prospect and that seems to be holding true as he’s reached the majors. Defensive Runs Saved has given him a +16 grade so far, with Ultimate Zone Rating coming in at 3.4 and Outs Above Average at +9.

That work in the field gives Díaz a solid floor as a glove-first option, with his strong offense in the minors giving some hope that he could develop into a two-way contributor. He’s now out of options but is still young and has just over a year of MLB service time. There’s enough intrigue in his profile to attract clubs around the league. The Marlins designated him for assignment in November but he has since landed with the Pirates and Orioles on waiver claims. The O’s will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Orioles Claim Lewin Diaz

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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.

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