Rays close to extending the contract with Yandy Diaz

Rays and the player Yandy Diaz MLB.com’s Mark Vinsand is close to finalizing a contract extension (Twitter link). The deal is a three-year, $24 million agreement that contains a club option for 2026, according to Vinsand and fellow MLB.com member Juan Toribio (via Twitter). Representing Diaz Appraiser Agency.

The extension will cover Diaz’s final two years of refereeing control and at least one of his free agent eligible seasons. Diaz and the Rays were scheduled to have an arbitration hearing to determine his 2023 salary after no agreement was reached by the filing deadline – Diaz was looking for $6.3 million and the club responded with $5.5 million.

Instead, it now looks like Diaz will be the third Tampa Bay player to sign an extension this week. Jeffrey Springs Occurred for four years at a value of $31 million on Wednesday when Fairbanks House He agreed to a deal Valued at $12 million over three years guaranteed on Friday. An ARB hearing is usually the result when both parties cannot agree on a year’s salary before the deadline to exchange numbers, yet clubs often attempt to pursue multi-year deals as a loophole over the self-imposed “file and trial” strategy deployed by most of the league.

Diaz, Springs and Fairbanks were three of seven Rays players who had not agreed to terms by the deadline, and even the remaining group of four (Harold RamirezAnd Colin ButchAnd Ryan ThompsonAnd Jason Adam) still represents an unusually large number of players heading to the hearings. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rays work at least one more extension before hearings begin in the coming weeks.

For Diaz, the new contract seals in some long-term security and the first big payday for the player, who turned 31 last August. Beginning his career in his native Cuba, Diaz was caught twice before finally defecting on his third attempt, then signed with Cleveland for a $300,000 bonus. Diaz didn’t make his MLB debut until 2017, when he was already 25 years old.

Back in December 2018, Three-band trading grabs the headlines The Rays, Indians and Mariners saw Diaz head from Cleveland to Tampa as part of a five-player swap. The Rays had an interest in Diaz’s ability to make connections and plot paths, and those skills certainly translated as Diaz’s career progressed. Since the start of the 2020 season, Diaz ranks sixth among all eligible hitters in walk rate (13.7%) and ninth in strikeout rate (13.1%).

Diaz hit .266/.359/.418 over his first three seasons with the Rays, good for 117 wRC+ over 1026 plate appearances. However, Diaz raised his production level even higher last season, posting 146 wRC+ while hitting .296/.401/.423 with nine home runs over 558 PA, and finishing with elite percentages in several key areas. statcast Categories. For a right-handed hitter, Diaz’s career numbers against left-handed pitchers have been relatively mediocre heading into 2022, but last year he smashed south to a 0.92 OPS on 145 PA.

More is coming….