Tigers acquire veteran infielder Isan Díaz off waivers from SF Giants

The Detroit Tigers acquired left-handed hitting infielder Isan Díaz off waivers from the SF Giants. Díaz is a former top-100 prospect in MLB.

Marc Delucchi | Aug 7, 2023

Tigers acquire veteran infielder Isan Díaz off waivers from SF Giants /

In this story:

The Detroit Tigers claimed infielder Isan Díaz off waivers from the SF Giants on Monday. The Giants designated Díaz for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster for outfielder Luis González. González has been on the 60-day injured list for the entire season after undergoing back surgery earlier this year but had to be re-added to the 40-man roster after a minor-league rehab assignment. The Giants optioned González to Triple-A Sacramento following the moves.

SF Giants infielder Isan Díaz throws a ball across the infield while he was with the Miami Marlins. (2021) — Miami Marlins infielder Isan Díaz throws a ball across the infield. (2021) / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Díaz missed the start of the season with an injury but has spent most of his time at Triple-A Sacramento since returning. In 26 games with the River Cats, Díaz has hit .240/.324/.490 with three doubles, seven home runs, 12 walks, and 38 strikeouts. He also had a pair of short stints with the Giants, recording just one hit and two walks in 21 plate appearances with seven strikeouts.

Díaz was drafted out of high school in the second round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and decided to forego his commitment to Vanderbilt and turned pro. Following an impressive season at the Pioneer League in 2015, the Diamondbacks traded Díaz, Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson, and cash to the Brewers for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner.

In Díaz's first year of full-season ball, he hit .264/.358/.469 with 20 home runs at Single-A. Just 20 at the time, Díaz emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect, ranking as 93rd, 65th, and 59th on Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus' respective prospect lists that offseason.

However, Díaz struggled to translate that power to better competition, struggling at High-A in 2017. The following offseason, Díaz was traded once again, this time to the Miami Marlins along with Lewis Brinson as a headliner in the package that brought Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.

Díaz made his big-league debut with the Marlins in 2019 and had MLB stints in each of the next three seasons, receiving extensive everyday opportunities at second base in 2019 and 2021. While Díaz posted respectable strikeout (27.8%) and walk (10.6%) rates in his 500 plate appearances with the Marlins, he struggled to generate enough hard contact to hold onto a starting job, hitting just .185/.275/.287.

Giants acquired Díaz in a trade for a player to be named later or cash (since no player has been exchanged at this point in time, it seems likely that the Giants only surrendered cash) early in the 2022 season and was arguably the team's second-best best player at Triple-A behind David Villar.

Díaz hit .275/.377/.574 with 23 home runs in 83 games with the Sacramento River Cats in 2022. The Giants appeared to be planning to give him another MLB opportunity in September before an injury cut his season short. The Giants added Díaz to their 40-man roster at the end of last season after an excellent year at Triple-A Sacramento. Now, he will look to find a permanent role with the Detroit Tigers and former SF Giants general manager Scott Harris.

Published Aug 7, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).