Robinson Diaz - The Future or the Present??

[Davids Justice]

So, has anyone seen this kid play? What is the opinion - is he worth the hype? I understand he has a terrific arm and can really handle the bat. I am excited to see him play - Being run on all day, like they were this year is never good.

[PJ-34]

Can he really handle the bat? alright lets go through 2007's stats shall we.

He started with NH AA and had a .316 Ave in 74 games. 17 doubles and 1 triple to go along with 3 home runs and 30 RBI. In 301 at-bats he only struck out 16 times and had 5 stolen bases.

Then he got the call to AAA Syracuse where he had a .338 Ave in 19 games. He had one home run and 10 RBI to go along with three doubles. He only struck out 6 times in 65 at-bats.

So in 2007 he had a .320 Ave in 93 games, 366 at-bats, only struck out 22 times, had 20 doubles, a triple, 4 home runs and 40 RBI, 5 stolen bags, an OBP of .346 and a SLG of .431.

In 2006 with A Dunedin he had a .306 Ave in 104 games with 21 doubles, a triple, 3 home runs and 44 RBI. He had 20 BB to go along with 8 stolen bases and only caught once.

He has only been caught steeling once in the last three years.

In 2005 he Spent the entire season with Dunedin (Class A Advanced)...Was selected as a midseason and postseason All-Star in the Florida State League...Batted .294 which ranked him 10th in the league...Played 100 games (87-C, 13-DH)...Had 65 RBIs which ranked 4th on the team...Led the team with six triples...Struck out only 28 times in 388 at bats...In August, he batted .337 with seven doubles and 17 RBIs in 22 games...From July 1 though the end of the season, he batted .335 (55-for-164) with 11 doubles and 30 RBIs in 42 games...Of those 42 games, he had at least one hit in 37 of them...Had separate hit streaks of 10, 11 and 12 games all after July 1...Had 30 multi-hit games...Only home run of the season came on May 25 vs. Daytona (1-R).
Selected as a midseason and postseason All-Star in the South Atlantic League (Class A) in a year that saw him bat .287 with two home runs and 42 RBIs in 105 games...Also chosen to participate for the World Team at the All-Star Futures Game...Hit safely in a season high 11 straight games between April 18 and May 2, batting .378 (17-for-45) with 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored...Had four multi-hit games in that streak and 34 multi-hit games in the season...Scored runs in eight straight games from Aug. 9-20 and 13 of the last 14 games overall to finish up the regular season schedule...Batted .358 with 20 RBIs at home and .257 with two home runs and 22 RBIs on the road...Led team with 10 stolen bases.
Was named the R. Howard Webster Award winner at Pulaski of the Appalachian League (Rookie)...Claimed the Appalachian League batting crown with a .374 average in 48 games...Collected 68 hits including a league-leading 20 doubles...Also ranked in the league's top five with 44 RBIs and a .522 slugging percentage...Named as the catcher for the Appalachian League's 2003 postseason All-Star team...Collected hits in 37 of his 48 games, recording two or more hits 20 times...Batted .402 at home and .350 on the road...Had 22 RBIs both at home and on the road.
Began his season with Dunedin of the Florida State League (Class A Advanced) playing primarily at catcher...In 10 games went 3-25 (.120) before being transferred to Medicine Hat of the Pioneer League (Rookie) on June 13...With Medicine Hat he batted .297 with nine doubles and 20 RBIs in 58 games...Combined to strike out just 23 times in 217 at bats...Also combined to make 10 errors in 356 chances in his first season as a catcher.
Played for the Pringamosa Blue Jays of the Dominican Summer League...In 65 games led the team in batting average .312, doubles (16) and RBIs (45).
The good stats go on until 2001 so I think you get the point, here is a list of his awards since 2004.

07/11/2007 - EAS Mid-Season All-Star
07/08/2007 - Futures Game Selection
08/28/2006 - FSL Post-Season All-Star
06/17/2006 - FSL Mid-Season All-Star
09/05/2005 - FSL Post-Season All-Star
06/18/2005 - FSL Mid-Season All-Star
09/01/2004 - SAL Post-Season All-Star

Did that answer your question? there is no doupt he is ready for the majors. I hope to see a call-up next year. He might be better than Thigpen.

[Big_Mac]

do you think that maybe either thigpen or diaz will switch positions? whom is more athletic?

[PJ-34]

It's a tough call but I think Thigpen, but he can play first too, maybe that would work as a backup to Lyle.

[NY16CATCHER]

Robinzon Diaz is the future #1 catcher in Toronto. There is absolutely no question in my mind he has the tools to be a #1 in the majors. He is VERY impressive. I saw him catch about 20 games last season and came away tremendously impressed.

[johnny canuckistan]

Diaz was just traded to Pittsburgh as the player to be named later. WTF?

[babaganoosh]

Hate to say I told you so, but...you know. Shortly after I first came to this board I talked about whether the "future" catchers for us really were our futures and this proved my point. First Cash, then Quiroz, Thigpen hasn't done anything, and now Diaz is gone. Anytime we develop a "future" catcher, they end up with at most a short stint before being shipped out or let go. And this comes at a position where we aren't even that strong at the major league level.

[gojays]

I think having J.P. Arencibia as well as Thigpen made Diaz expendable.

[babaganoosh]

I think having J.P. Arencibia as well as Thigpen made Diaz expendable.
They do seem to say that a lot. That's why Cash was gone, because Quiroz was coming up. Then through a combination of an injury/medical condition and Thigpen being drafted, Quiroz was expendable. Now Diaz is expendable because Thigpen is here. And we are a team who haven't really found any long-term catcher and we aren't particularly strong, but we keep losing our "future" before they make any sort of impact in the majors.

Worse thing is, JP is still barely a AA guy, so very much untested. Thigpen has never hit above .285 in ANY level with the Jays, regardless of at-bats, and he's known more for his offense than his defense.

Later there's always that chance that JP does well in AA and barely makes it into AAA, and then Thigpen is expendable. Maybe we draft another catcher next year and he does well, does JP now become expendable? It is a little worrysome when it seems to be a never-ending cycle.

[Imgran]

If a guy pulling down a .602 OPS in Syracuse is your future then I really feel sorry for the Jays.

Diaz got hurt and struggled in his age 24 season. That's why he was sent away.

Course, he's still better than Thigpen, which is to say that Thigpen has been even worse this year. I guess maybe your org decided which of their disappointments they wanted to try to revive the career of since they had to lose one to make room for the other.

What is it about the Toronto org that makes them try to draft speedy catchers with no power? Catchers with speed are a LUXURY, and the scouting focus should be on power, discipline, approach and defense long before the basepaths becomes a factor.

Speedy catchers with no power don't tend to have that much of a future, Jason Kendall excepted. The job is just plain too hard on the knees for the running game to remain effective into their prime, leaving them as basically just light-hitting guys with average speed that do no one any particular good. Meaning that the "bust factor" on a catcher whose thing is a speed game are unusually high when they're high enough already.

Looking at the Toronto minor league catching system makes me appreciate Boston's fourth-string catcher a little more. Brown has anything you guys have produced in the last several years beat handily. And that's sad

[babaganoosh]

Ironically, Boston's back-up is Kevin Cash.

[Imgran]

Equally ironic, I'd be happier if he wasn't, since I could rely on either Kottaras or Brown to be an adequate caddy for Wakefield while carrying some of the offensive burden for the struggling Varitek.

[topherkris]

While I agree we've had a system that keeps producing catching prospects that do not seem to carry their hype / production through the levels, I've got to say that i'm really, and i mean REALLY happy with "hot" rod.

I wasn't a fan of Mr. Zaun, and the "I was just paying off a bet, not buying steroids" was icing on the cake. I really cannot believe it took Gibbons / Gaston that long to stick Barajas into the starting line-up.

We're fine for another year, so lets just keep developing these prospects.