Cardinals
Sign Aledmys Diaz
MONDAY:*Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dis***** reports (
via Twitter) that Diaz's deal was worth just $8MM -- a significant departure from his initial goals.
SUNDAY,*4:20pm: The contract is worth less than $20MM, tweets
FOXSports' Jon Paul Morosi.
12:35pm: The
Cardinals have signed Cuban infielder
Aledmys Diaz, USA Today's Bob Nightengale
tweets. Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan
tweets that it's a four-year deal.
Diaz will report to spring training tomorrow.
Diaz is represented by Jaime Torres.
"
We have been following Aledmys for quite some time,"
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said in a statement. "
His signing marks a significant benchmark for the Cardinals in the international arena, and we are excited to have reached this agreement."
Terms of the deal are unclear, but there has been
some speculation that
Diaz could receive a deal slightly larger than those signed by fellow Cuban infielders
Erisbel Arruebarrena and
Alexander Guerrero of the Dodgers.
Scout.com's Kiley McDaniel suggests
Diaz could get $5MM-7MM per season.
McDaniel also suggests
Diaz should hit well for average, but with below-average power. He reportedly isn't a strong defensive shortstop, but he could be better at second base. Whether
Diaz can play shortstop regularly may **t be a huge issue for the
Cardinals anyway, at least **t in the short term, since they signed
Jhonny Peralta to a
four-year, $53MM deal this offseason. The
Cardinals currently have
Kolten Wong penciled in as their starter at second base, with
Matt Carpenter*(who signed a
six-year, $52MM extension only yesterday) at third and
Mark Ellis as a key infield backup.
Diaz worked out*for the
Cardinals last month and, per a tweet from
MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez, the Cubs this past Wednesday.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets the Padres made a run at the 23-year-old, who had also been connected to the Giants, Blue Jays, Yankees, Phillies, Mariners, Braves and Athletics. Besides the Cardinals,
Diaz had received offers from five other clubs, tweets
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
