Blue Jays: What to like about the Aledmys Diaz trade

The Blue Jays swung a deal with the Cardinals on Friday that could be a potential steal, acquiring Aledmys Diaz in exchange for J.B Woodman.

Ross Atkins has talked about the middle infield being the top priority this offseason, and Friday night’s trade shows that he was serious about upgrading the depth up the middle. The Blue Jays sent outfield prospect J.B. Woodman to the St. Louis Cardinals and acquired 27 year old shortstop Aledmys Diaz in exchange.

Diaz broke into the big leagues with the Cardinals in 2016, and introduced himself in fine fashion. He hit .300/.367/.510 with 17 home runs and 65 RBI, on his way to a 3.5 WAR season. It appeared as if the Cardinals had found their solution at shortstop for the long term future, but then 2017 came along.

Diaz battled thumb injuries this season and played in just 79 games and hit .259/.290/.392 with seven home runs and 20 RBI. He struggled a bit on defence as well, as his dWAR dropped from 0.2 in 2016 to -0.6 in 2017. To make matters worse, the Cardinals had Paul DeJong emerge at shortstop, who finished the season with 25 home runs and 65 RBI in just 108 games played. The Cardinals also have other infield depth like Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, and Kolton Wong, so they were able to move on from Diaz. They’re also rumoured to be in on talks for upgrades like Giancarlo Stanton, so their roster seems to be in flux at the moment as well.

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For the Blue Jays, it feels like they acquired a player with the potential to provide a lot of value, especially considering the acquisition cost. The Jays liked their prospect they sent to the Cardinals (J.B. Woodman), but it would appear he’s a small price to pay for a shortstop who was a NL All-Star as recently as 2016.

Granted he struggled in 2017, but thumb injuries are notoriously slow healers, and obviously affect the way a player swings the bat. Assuming he’s fully healthy when he gets to spring training, there’s a lot of upside to like, especially since he’s just 27 years old.

The cherry on the top is that Diaz has five years of club control remaining, and won’t be a free agent until 2023. The native of Santa Clara, Cuba signed a four year, eight million dollar deal with the Cardinals that stretched from 2014-2017, and it remains to be seen what he’ll be compensated in 2018, and going forward.

Still, it’s a surprise the Cardinals weren’t able to get a better return for Diaz, even if they were pressed against the non-tender deadline on Friday, and have solid depth in their middle infield picture. Maybe he’ll never find the form again that made him an All-Star in 2016, but for the acquisition cost, and especially given the needed depth in Toronto, it’s a risk that’s well worth taking for the Blue Jays.

Like, a no-brainer type of “risk”.

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