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Good morning baseball fans!
The big news from yesterday was out of St. Louis where it was reported that shortstop Jhonny Peralta could miss two to three months with a thumb injury.
They may have an in-house option to replace Peralta: Aledmys Diaz.
Diaz is now back on the Cardinals’ 40-man. He’s been mostly passed over when it’s come to prospect lists, because he doesn’t have that much of a professional record, and he’s not considered a defensive plus at short. It’s hard to ignore a guy having been pretty recently DFA’d, and you can understand why people would be skeptical. With that being said, looking at Diaz and looking at other possible options, I don’t see why the Cardinals should go outside the organization at this time. Anyone realistically available would be a low-upside player, and Diaz has his own selling points. This is almost a perfect opportunity to see what he can do over the short-term, and it’s not like it’s even easy to bring in a more pricey external piece since Peralta remains on the books. I don’t think this is a situation that calls for, say, aJurickson Profar blockbuster. I think it calls for staying in-house, playing Diaz and mixing in some Gyorko, and then re-evaluating if you have to in June or July. Something tells me there’s going to be an Alexei Ramirez on the market.
Again, if the Cardinals disagree, well, they’re the experts. They understand Diaz better than I do, and maybe there’s something there — or something not there — I’m just missing. And this definitely isn’t a positive turn of events, given how productive Peralta has been in the recent past. But, Aledmys Diaz is back on the radar, and he’s already succeeded in the high minors. If this isn’t an opening, then I don’t know what is.
Both the Pirates and Mets have made interesting decisions; renewing the contracts of two of their best players at rather low salaries.
Speaking of the Pirates, they have made some savvy moves this offseason, still looking for that division title.
The Orioles signed a former Pirate, Pedro Alvarez, to a one-year, $5.25 million deal.
Bryan Cole over at Beyond the Box Score took a look at a new "smart bat" that is going to hit the market in June.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1930, Babe Ruth signs a two-year, $160,000 deal with New York, making the highest paid player of all time as of 1930.