Rays and the participant Yandy Diaz MLB.com’s Mark Vinsand is near finalizing a contract extension (Twitter hyperlink). The deal is a three-year, $24 million settlement that incorporates a membership possibility for 2026, in accordance with Vinsand and fellow MLB.com member Juan Toribio (through Twitter). Representing Diaz Appraiser Company.
The extension would cowl Diaz’s ultimate two years of refereeing management and at the very least one among his free agent eligible seasons. Diaz and the Rays have been scheduled to have an arbitration listening to to find out his 2023 wage after no settlement was reached by the submitting deadline – Diaz was searching for $6.3 million and the membership responded with $5.5 million.
As an alternative, it now seems to be like Diaz would be the third Tampa Bay participant to signal an extension this week. Jeffrey Springs Occurred $31 million extension for 4 years on Wednesday when Fairbanks Home He agreed to a deal Valued at $12 million over three years assured on Friday. An ARB listening to is often the end result when events can’t agree on a one-year wage earlier than the deadline to change numbers, but golf equipment incessantly try to pursue multi-year offers as a loophole over the self-imposed “file and trial” technique deployed by a lot of the league.
Diaz, Springs and Fairbanks have been three of seven Rays gamers who had not agreed to phrases by the deadline, and even the remaining group of 4 (Harold RamirezAnd Colin ButchAnd Ryan ThompsonAnd Jason Adam) nonetheless represents an unusually giant variety of gamers heading to the hearings. It definitely would not be stunning to see the Rays work at the very least another extension earlier than hearings start within the coming weeks.
For Diaz, the brand new contract seals in some long-term safety and the primary large payday for the participant, who turned 31 final August. Starting his profession in his native Cuba, Diaz was caught twice earlier than lastly defecting on his third try, then signed with Cleveland for a $300,000 bonus. Diaz did not make his MLS debut till 2017, when he was already 25 years outdated.
Again in December 2018, A 3-team commerce grabs the headlines The Rays, Indians and Mariners noticed Diaz head from Cleveland to Tampa as a part of a five-player swap. The Rays had an curiosity in Diaz’s skill to make connections and plot paths, and people abilities definitely translated as Diaz’s profession progressed. Because the begin of the 2020 season, Diaz ranks sixth amongst all eligible hitters in stroll price (13.7%) and ninth in strikeout price (13.1%).
Diaz hit .266/.359/.418 over his first three seasons with the Rays, good for 117 wRC+ over 1026 plate appearances. Nonetheless, Diaz raised his manufacturing stage even larger final season, posting 146 wRC+ whereas hitting .296/.401/.423 with 9 dwelling runs over 558 PA, and ending with elite percentages in a number of key areas. statcast Classes. For a right-handed hitter, Diaz’s profession numbers in opposition to left-handed pitchers have been comparatively mediocre heading into 2022, however final 12 months he smashed south to a 0.92 OPS on 145 PA.
One flaw in Diaz’s efficiency was the shortage of glove work, as basic defensive metrics indicated he had been properly beneath common via 1,282 1/3 innings as a 3rd baseman over the previous two seasons. That is much more pronounced at a defense-minded membership like Tampa Bay, though the Rays might ideally be trying to make use of Diaz extra usually as a beginning participant in 2023 or over the course of a long-term deal.
Within the large image, locking up Diaz seems to be like a wise transfer for Tampa. Whereas 146 wRC+ is a excessive watermark for Diaz, there wasn’t a lot (save for a spike in his worst hit ball price) to counsel that his 2022 numbers have been a departure from his earlier profession numbers, so it is cheap for the Rays to anticipate roughly related manufacturing. going ahead over the lifetime of the Diaz deal.
Maybe probably the most fascinating ingredient is that the Rays have now prolonged a 31-year-old participant, as it is rather frequent for a workforce to buy gamers as a result of they’re getting costlier. Nonetheless, there has by no means been any actual enterprise buzz surrounding Diaz, so the Rays have now locked up three members from their land (Diaz, Franco wanderedAnd Brandon Lowe) although presumably the 2026 season, relying on the standing of membership choices for Diaz and Lowe. After all, the Rays might nonetheless find yourself looking for Diaz, Lowe, and even Franco down the street, particularly if the membership continues to create high quality prospects from its minor league pipeline.
Between the as but unknown particulars of Diaz’s contract numbers and unresolved arbitration circumstances, the Rays are prone to match or exceed their former high-payroll franchise, even when their complete spending remains to be very modest by league-wide requirements. Tampa Bay’s Opening Day payrolls final season have been about $83.86 million, and record useful resource Presently (with out Diaz connected) the Rays have about $76.86 million on the books in 2023.