Bobster wrote on Nov 25
th, 2022 at 9:26am:
GreenWeenie wrote on Nov 25
th, 2022 at 7:38am:
A good first baseman pickup to me looked like Adam LaRoche. This guy doesn't look like any Adam LaRoche.
At the very most, he looks adequate, and I'm not sure about that.
I'm a bit surprised that we had to go external to find a first baseman who can't hit.
I side with Surg on this part of what he wrote. We can do better. And, if we can't, then I don't want to know about it.
LaRoche was acquired the year after hitting .285 with 32 HRs and 90 RBIs. So he was a known commodity; a productive player. In order to obtain him, they traded Mike Gonzalez who, at the time, had emerged as one of the top relievers in MLB. (Unfortunately, injuries plagued him the rest of his career.)
Diaz has never (at least so far) been able to hit MLB pitching and cost nothing because he was picked up on waivers. It's just another dumpster dive. It's how they operate. LaRoche was acquired to bring his proven abilities to the Pirates and make them stronger. Diaz was acquired just to find out if he could do well enough to make the team in ST. If he flops in ST (which would not be surprising and is probably more likely than not), he would probably clear waivers (he's out of options) and be assigned to AAA. That would be a hedge against losing Malcolm Nunez (who was inexplicably not protected) in Rule 5.
Agree with your assessment and the recollection of the LaRoche addition, though I sure hope that you're wrong on the "just how they operate" piece.
It's just how they've operated
to date, which is all that we can go by.
I am probably naïve. I'd rather say 'optimistic,' and think that this is temporary and for not much longer.
We can do better
today. (meaning- in time for 2023 Opening Day.) Surely, we're not done. It's only the end of November.
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Pirates Claim L. Díaz (Read 1021 times)
