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Houston Astros: The trade for Aledmys Diaz isn’t the answer

By Brian K. Patterson

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 02: Aledmys Diaz #1 of the Toronto Blue Jays misses fielding the ball hit by Jason Castro #15 of the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of the game on May 2, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Blue Jays 4-0. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 02: Aledmys Diaz #1 of the Toronto Blue Jays misses fielding the ball hit by Jason Castro #15 of the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of the game on May 2, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Blue Jays 4-0. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Houston Astros have traded for Aledmys Diaz, a budding infielder that will provide some help. However, he’s not the answer. Why? Let’s examine further.

The Houston Astros are already showing their aggressiveness by trading for an infielder that apparently has some versatility like Marwin Gonzalez.  And just like that, the team makes their first move of the off season to which I do believe there will be many more in store, especially when the Winter Meetings occur at the middle of next month.

The big-time, blockbuster deals are made at that time because team executives, agents and possibly players that decide to attend could all work together to hammer out a pact.

It’s at least good to know that this team is doing something to address the possible void — the Houston Astros likely haven’t given up on Marwin yet — that would be left if he ultimately decides to sign with another team.  Unless his loyalty for the Houston Astros is off the charts, he’s as a good as gone but there’s still hope and the team should always have a contingency in place.

Nonetheless, the Houston Astros traded RHP Trent Thornton, who was in the team’s Top 30 prospects list, for Aledmys Diaz.  There’s no doubt that this was a fair price but I’m highly doubtful that he’s going to be a suitable replacement.

Diaz is primarily a shortstop but he does have the ability to play third base, along with some past reps at second and left field.  Who knows what the future will bring and what his impact will be either on a fill-in basis or as the full-time left fielder?

Need more rapid reaction to the Diaz trade?  Take a listen to Robert Land and R.G. Seal on the Houston Sports Talk podcast:

That’s a position that still has an open application as it’s totally up for grabs.  Who will it be?  Tony Kemp?  Kyle Tucker?  Possibly Diaz?  I’ll tell you this right now — the only way I see Diaz as a everyday starter is if he’s at left field and that’s not his strong point.  He’s only had 9.0 career innings at left field since joining the majors.

In addition, although Diaz will be tendered a contract for 2019, he is arbitration-eligible for three more seasons, making him a free agent in 2023.  So his contract will be friendly to the unofficial cap that the Houston Astros invoke, relatively making the risk of this move quite low.

Defense

Since his MLB debut back in the 2016 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he hasn’t had a UZR higher than -0.5 at SS but got himself as high as a 0.6 when taking reps at third base.  Marwin had a positive UZR at all outfield positions in 2018, with a whopping 4.6.

Plate Discipline

He does have solid plate discipline in regard to knowing where the strike zone is, connecting on 87.8 percent of the pitches thrown to him in the zone but he was able to hit for contact on just 58.1 percent of those outside of the zone.  It goes to show that he’ll sometimes feast on what’s given to him but he remains cautious and wise to not make a bad decision at the plate.

In comparison, MarGo’s percentage for outside of the strike was 60.1 for 2018 but it has gone high as high as 70.3 percent, a mark he notched back in the 2013.  Diaz has gotten no higher than 67.5 percent, his rookie season and is averaging 62.1 percent for that metric in his career.  MarGo has averaged 62.3 for his career.

Clutch Hitting

Gonzalez is one of the best in terms of utility players being able to get the job done in a pinch.  He

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batted .281 with a .915 OPS in 71 plate appearances with two outs and runners in scoring position this past season.

In the same cut, Diaz batted .200 with a .658 OPS so being able to hit when the moment precedes him is something that he still has to work on.

Come on — I know the Toronto Blue Jays went 73-89 in this year’s campaign but Diaz had 50 plate appearances to get the job done and he didn’t.

Bottom Line

Ultimately, it comes down Gonzalez being irreplaceable.  As I’ve said previously in other write-ups, the best solution for Marwin is to have him on this team.  Yes, Gonzalez may be a bit costlier but the Astros can sleep well at night knowing that they have the best utility man in the majors on their roster.  Ben Zobrist, considered to be the highest-paid utility man in baseball, is toward the back-end of a four-year, $56 million deal.

The Houston Astros need to use that pact as a baseline and come back to negotiating table to try to bring Marwin back.

Diaz has had some nice flashes through his career but I just don’t think he’s the answer and asking Yuli Gurriel to play musical chairs all over the field to help does not move the needle for me.

Here’s the deal — re-sign MarGo now and all concerns will be addressed.

Now that’s the bottom line.

Next. Three Astros prospects that are tradeable. dark

Diaz, 28, had a slash line of .263/.303./.453 along with 18 homers and 55 ribbies through 452 plate appearances in 130 games last season.

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