Archive for Robinzon Diaz

Prospect ranking season is here. Top 10 lists will be arriving shortly and in preparation for that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The series is back for a second year.

The Graduate: Andrew McCutchen, OF
McCutchen began the year in triple-A but he received his much-deserved promotion after his 49th game in the minors in ’09. He went on to hit .286/.365/.471 with an ISO of .185 in 433 at-bats. The center fielder also stole 22 bases in 27 attempts. For a top-of-the-order-type hitter, McCutchen showed encouraging patience with a walk rate of 11.1%. He’s still learning to hit breaking balls, but he handles MLB fastballs with relative ease (1.47 wFB/C). Defensively, he struggled with his range but he still posted a 3.4 WAR thanks to his offensive contributions.

The Riser: Chase D’Arnaud, SS
D’Arnaud’s younger brother Travis (Philadelphia) was more highly regarded as an amateur, but the elder sibling has performed better than expected in pro ball. Originally considered a utility prospect, D’Arnaud now projects as a possible starter in the middle infield. He split ’09 between low-A and high-A and hit .295/.402/.481 at the senior level. D’Arnaud also shows good patience at the plate (12.5 BB%) and his ISO jumped to .186 in high-A, although most of his strength is gap power right now. He also stole 31 bases in 39 attempts.

The Tumbler: Bryan Morris, RHP
This right-hander’s value has taken a big hit due to injuries and alleged attitude issues. A former top draft pick, Morris struggled with his consistency in ’09 and posted a walk rate of 4.21 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of just 3.96 K/9 in 72.2 innings in high-A ball. He also allowed 87 hits, but gave up just two homers. At this point, the Pirates organization would probably be happy to see Morris make the Majors as a reliever. When he’s right, Morris has shown a plus curveball, change-up, slider and an 88-93 mph fastball.

The ’10 Sleeper: Hunter Strickland, RHP
Obtained from Boston while the organization was dumping veteran contracts, Strickland is still raw as a pitcher but he has tons of potential. He displays plus control with a walk rate of just 1.38 BB/9 in low-A this season. The 21-year-old pitcher did allow a few too many hits (127 in 126.1 innings), and he has yet to develop his secondary pitches to the point where he can rack up a lot of strikeouts (5.51 with Boston, 4.81 with Pittsburgh). Overall, he features an 89-94 fastball, a slider and a change-up.

Bonus: Robinzon Diaz, C
Diaz was highlighted in the 2008 series as the sleeper prospect to watch for ’09. The catcher, who was acquired in ’08 from Toronto, benefited from an injury to starter Ryan Doumit this past season. Diaz hit .279/.307/.357 in 129 at-bats. He displays almost zero power (.078 ISO) and doesn’t walk (2.3 BB%), but he makes a lot of contact (89.7%, league average is 80.5%) and doesn’t strike out either (7.0%). He’s similar to Vlad Guerrero in the sense that he swings – and makes contact – with just about everything. Diaz has made huge strides in his catching over the past few seasons.

The Graduate: Brandon Moss | Born: September 1983 | Outfielder

The Pirates did not see much impact from its own system in 2008; the majority of rookies like Brandon Moss and Andy LaRoche came from other organizations in mid-season. Moss was stuck behind a backlog of outfielders in Boston but should get the chance to play everyday in Pittsburgh, although he may be better suited for a fourth outfielder role. He has modest power potential for a corner outfielder (.188 career MLB ISO) and he’s never hit more than 16 homers in a season. He also has a healthy line-drive rate in the Majors of 21.1%. Like most young hitters, Moss could stand to cut down on his whiffs.

The Riser: Jim Negrych | Born: March 1985 | Infielder

The former University of Pittsburgh infielder had a breakout 2008 campaign by hitting .370/.449/.508 in 386 High-A at-bats. Jim Negrych also held his own during a late-season promotion to Double-A. He doesn’t have much power, but he showed a good eye at the plate (55 walks, 55 strikeouts in High-A) and he steals in the odd base (12 attempts, seven stolen in 2008). Negrych spent his first two pro seasons playing second base but was moved over to third for most of 2008 where he struggled defensively (.912 FP, 2.87 RF/g). He also lacks the power to be an average to above-average offensive player at the hot corner. He is back playing second base in the fall Hawaii Baseball League.

The Tumbler: Daniel Moskos| Born: April 1986 | Left-Handed Pitcher

Daniel Moskos was a bit of a quizzical pick as the Pirates’ first selection (fourth overall) in the 2007 draft and he struggled miserably in his first full pro season. Most teams felt Moskos had the potential to be a starter in pro ball, but Pittsburgh initially announced that he would be a reliever. After the 2007 season, though, Moskos was shifted to the rotation and posted a 5.95 ERA in High-A ball this past year. He allowed 124 hits in 110.1 innings and posted rates of 3.51 BB/9 and 6.36 K/9. Moskos’ fastball was also lacking zip. Obviously, he needs to turn things around in 2009.

The ’08 Draft Pick: Chase D’Arnaud | Born: January 1987 | Shortstop

The brother of Philadelphia’s 2007 supplemental first round pick Travis D’Arnaud, Chase D’Arnaud had a solid college career at Pepperdine and was selected in the fourth round by Pittsburgh. He posted solid numbers in his debut with a line of .286/.330/.423 in 168 short-season at-bats. D’Arnaud played mostly third base in college, before his final season, but lacks the power to play there regularly in pro ball. At worst, he should be a solid utility player who can do a little bit of everything at the Major League level.

The ’09 Sleeper: Robinzon Diaz | Born: September 1983 | Catcher

Robinzon Diaz was obtained from Toronto late in the season for the disappointing Jose Bautista. Diaz has the chance to be a solid player, as an athletic catcher who does not strikeout (7.6 K% at Triple-A in 2008) and puts his bat on everything he swings at (which is just about everything – 3.7 BB% at Triple-A). Diaz is athletic for a catcher and has also played some third base and second base. He could be a valuable bench player and third catcher in the National League – although he has the potential to play regularly.

Up Next: The Chicago White Sox

I have to admit that I have not been a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ moves in recent years, but things are beginning to change. The Manny Ramirez deal, which the Pirates were involved in as the third team in, netted the organization some interesting players, as did the Xavier Nady trade with the New York Yankees.

After dealing with two powerhouse AL East teams, the Pirates made a smaller deal with another team in the division, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Pirates sent underachieving Jose Bautista, a former Rule 5 player who was playing at Triple-A and is eligible for arbitration after the season, to the Jays for a player to be named later. Bautista will help fill in for the perennially-injured Scott Rolen at third base.

The player-to-be-named-later was named yesterday, and it was Triple-A catcher Robinzon Diaz. I don’t like the trade from the Jays’ perspective because general manager J.P. Ricciardi – once again – sold low on a player. Diaz is a bad-ball hitter who has excellent hand-eye coordination and is a .300-plus career hitter (.306 in seven seasons), albeit with no power. He had been struggling at Triple-A, but had also missed a good portion of the season due to a severe ankle sprain.

Diaz was made expendable for Toronto because of the emergence of catcher Brian Jeroloman (Triple-A), and J.P. Arencibia (Double-A), both of whom were drafted and acquired under the Ricciardi tenure, while Diaz was not (Ricciardi seems to have a large bias for his own players).

The soon-to-be 25 year old catcher is very athletic and can play just about any where but shortstop and center field. He has an average arm for a catcher and pretty good catching skills, but his game calling has been criticized by Jays’ minor league pitchers. He should make a great third-string catcher and back-up at third base and second base.

Diaz will not be a superstar but he will be a solid addition to a National League club in rebuilding mode. With both of Toronto’s catching facing free agency this winter, he is also someone that organization could have used more than an arbitration-eligible utility player who cannot hit above .250.