mike87114 wrote: I think you may be wrong about the Cubs.  Your logic is correct but you overlook "Theo's" role in this.  Last winter he signed Soler and Diaz is the type of player that he would sign regardless of Starlin Castro.  He could easily be a good trading chip for Theo and it has been written that Diaz can also handle 2B.  Diaz also fits the Cubs rebuilding timeline.

I actually think the two most likely destinations for Diaz are Detroit and Chicago. 

On the surface, Diaz seems to meet a real need for St. Louis but there really is not much scouting to rely on in this case.  I will trust the Cardinals scouts and/or front office personnel to determine the value of Diaz.  I am hopeful that Diaz meets or exceeds the Cardinals expectations and that they make a competitive bid.

nbr1hawkeye wrote:

mike87114 wrote: I think you may be wrong about the Cubs.  Your logic is correct but you overlook "Theo's" role in this.  Last winter he signed Soler and Diaz is the type of player that he would sign regardless of Starlin Castro.  He could easily be a good trading chip for Theo and it has been written that Diaz can also handle 2B.  Diaz also fits the Cubs rebuilding timeline.

I actually think the two most likely destinations for Diaz are Detroit and Chicago. 

On the surface, Diaz seems to meet a real need for St. Louis but there really is not much scouting to rely on in this case.  I will trust the Cardinals scouts and/or front office personnel to determine the value of Diaz.  I am hopeful that Diaz meets or exceeds the Cardinals expectations and that they make a competitive bid.

I think the Cubs only chance is to grossly overpay him.  If they just make a competitive, "in-the-ballpark" bid, they won't have any chance.

If I was in Diaz shoes, I would look for a winning organization with a clear path to a big league ss job.  Not a rebuilding team that may move him to another position.  Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and StL... along with DET (and perhaps a few others) would be good choices if they make competitive offers.

I actually think StL would have a very good chance to sign him if they make a reasonably equivalent offer.  The fit is nearly perfect for him.

In the end, it will be up to Diaz to pick a team.  I'm not going to bet on StL, but I would bet against the Cubs.

nbr1hawkeye wrote: Here is a link that looks at the Cardinals perspective...

http://www.stlcardinalbaseball...ue-aledmis-diaz

This writer says that Diaz's glove is poor.  That may be true, but this is the first I have heard anyone grade Diaz glove as poor.  He did play second base for the Cuban National team.  And no one that I know of has touted his defense.  But even if his defense isn't strong now, it surely can improve.  I'm not saying that he could win a gold glove someday, but he could be as good as anyone we have now.

mike87114 wrote: Google "Lemmerman at Duke" for your answer to the party boy question.

I don't think anyone has said that Diaz is better than Furcal and he may not be better than Kozma or Jackson for that matter.  However, as a member of the Cuban National team, I suspect he has skills that would translate to the major leagues.  If there are any points of reference, I would look to Iglesias from Boston or Hechavarria from Miami.  They are the most recent SS to come to the U.S. from Cuban baseball.

I don't know how anyone can say that Diaz is either a poor or great SS.  Best that I can tell, nobody has seen much of him.  The showcase last weekend was supposed to solve that issue but it was cancelled. 

As I have said, on paper, Diaz makes sense for the Cardinals.  The reality of whether that is true or not will come from the Cardinals professional scouts or other front office personnel when they finally get to scout him.

Adding talented prospects to your system is never a bad call.  This won't cost us prospects, nor will it cost us an arm and a leg for an injury-ridden player (see: Stephen Drew or Jose Reyes)

I thought we should have pursued Nakajima and the other Japanese SSs, Takashi Toritani and Kensuke Tanaka.

The issue is that Furcal is not the answer to having sustainable SS success and neither is Kozma, Jackson (likely), G. Garcia, or Lemmerman.

It's our only possibly below-average position on the team and it comes without any true reinforcements on the way.

Diaz presents a ready-made AAA/MLB SS prospect.



Japanese SS, Takashi Toritani:

http://www.amazinavenue.com/20...onal-free-agent

cardinalnationhouston wrote:

nbr1hawkeye wrote: Here is a link that looks at the Cardinals perspective...

http://www.stlcardinalbaseball...ue-aledmis-diaz

This writer says that Diaz's glove is poor.  That may be true, but this is the first I have heard anyone grade Diaz glove as poor.  He did play second base for the Cuban National team.  And no one that I know of has touted his defense.  But even if his defense isn't strong now, it surely can improve.  I'm not saying that he could win a gold glove someday, but he could be as good as anyone we have now.

Actually the article says his glove is Okay- to poor. Looks like Diaz has no power and no base stealing ability either. I am not sure what has everyone excited just judging by what i have read. Obviously no one has seen him play yet so we don't really know but i wonder what all the hype is about. Is he even an upgrade at the position for us? A couple of things strike me about this article. First off i did not know that Jose Canseco was a Cuban defector and secondly what is the basis for calling Lemmerman a "party boy"? What stroke is he concerned with? On the links? Seems like a very poorly written piece to me. Diaz may help get talent in the pipeline at AAA but i have seen nothing to even hint that he is ready to start in St.Louis right now or is better than Furcal at this time.

mike87114 wrote: 
I don't think anyone has said that Diaz is better than Furcal and he may not be better than Kozma or Jackson for that matter.  However, as a member of the Cuban National team, I suspect he has skills that would translate to the major leagues.  If there are any points of reference, I would look to Iglesias from Boston or Hechavarria from Miami.  They are the most recent SS to come to the U.S. from Cuban baseball.

I don't know how anyone can say that Diaz is either a poor or great SS.  Best that I can tell, nobody has seen much of him.  The showcase last weekend was supposed to solve that issue but it was cancelled. 

As I have said, on paper, Diaz makes sense for the Cardinals.  The reality of whether that is true or not will come from the Cardinals professional scouts or other front office personnel when they finally get to scout him.

Domeboys wrote: A wild guess is that the team that offers the most money will be at the top of his list.

I feel like a broken record but the two most recent SS to come to the U.S. from Cuba are Iglesias (Red Sox) and Herchevarria (Miami).  They received:

Iglesias 4 years/$8.5 M

Hechavarria 4 years/$10.0 M (signed by Toronto/traded to Miami)

Hechavarria was signed in 2009, I think, and Iglesias 2008.

There is some obvious salary inflation between 2008, 2009, and now.  If I had to guess, I would say Diaz would get four years and somewhere between $12 - 14M assuming no red flags pop up at the player's showcase.