The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded outfielder Matt Diaz to the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later, according to a team press release. Diaz played for the Braves from 2006-2010, before signing a two year, $4 M deal with the Pirates. No word yet on the contract terms, but David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Braves will receive cash from the Pirates. Diaz is owed about $317 K for the remainder of the year, and $2 M in 2012.
The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster, one day before September call ups.
About Tim Williams
Tim is the owner and editor in chief of Pirates Prospects. He started the site in January 2009, and turned it into his full time job during the 2011 season. Prior to starting Pirates Prospects, Tim worked with AccuScore.com, providing MLB, NHL, and NFL coverage to various national media outlets, including ESPN Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and the Wall Street Journal. He also writes the annual Prospect Guide, which is sold through the site. Tim moved to Bradenton in 2013, and will be providing live coverage all year of the Bradenton Marauders, GCL Pirates, instructs, mini camp, Spring Training, and lunches at Mixon's Fruit Farms.
August 31, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Good move as long as the money is right…
August 31, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Awesome. No room for Matty next year with Cutch, Tabata, Elvis and Marte/Gorkys down in Indy
August 31, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Finding someone who would take him is reward enough.
He’s a good guy but could barely hit a ball out of the infield.
NH can prepare in earnest for next year’s position player free agent bust. Retirement age guys start rethinking what they can do with an extra $2-$5MM from the generous Pirates during the offseason.
August 31, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Kevin Correia should be the next trade
August 31, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Tim, do you think the Buccos might call up Gorkys Hernandez today so they don’t have a short bench? Or do you think they just wait until tomorrow when rosters expand?
September 1, 2011 at 4:11 am
diaz did what he was supposed to do, he has always been a line drive hitter that tore up lefties and that is what he was for us … our fault for expecting more than he was capable of and kind of odd that we would sign him for 2 years and then give up on him after one… hope the prospect makes it worth the extra work we’ll need to do to replace his leadership in the clubhouse, we had two veteran leaders in the clubhouse traded one and fell apart and now we traded the other one before 2012… ya gotta have vets in the clubhouse if you’re going to be competitive so it will be interesting seeing what huntington does about that void over the winter
also i hope the prospect we got back is one of their young shortstops, they have several that have major league projection