Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Matt Diaz: Start, Platoon, or Trade?

The AJC wants to know what you would do with Matty. (In a baseball sense, heh.)

Age next season: He'll turn 30 in March.

Position: Spent 2007 platooning with Willie Harris in left field.

On the one hand... A great hitter this season, he didn't have enough at-bats to qualify for batting title. His defense improved all season. Hit over .300 against both left- and right-handed pitchers.

On the other... Still not the greatest defensive left-fielder.
Go here to vote. Go here to play video games with him:



(I love seeing the guys at charity events, especially when they look like they're having as much fun as the kids are.)

7 comments:

Tommy Poe said...

I've been slow to the Diaz bandwagon, mostly because I value defense. Nevertheless, if the choice is between Willie Harris and Diaz, I don't know why there is even a slight question. I like Brandon Jones, though. I'm willing to give Diaz a year in LF to himself, but I don't see him sticking around for too long after that.

Unless...Teix doesn't resign and the Braves put Diaz at first.

Hmmm...

Lauren T. said...

I had a hard time choosing between Matt and Langy in '06 -- Langy's defense was so impressive, and even though Matt is one of the least graceful in the clubhouse, he's not awful in the outfield.

If we're going to trade someone for some starting pitching, I'd rather see Edgar and/or Martin Prado traded. Yunie has proven he can start at short on a regular basis. I'd even be okay with a BJones/Diaz platoon.

...Stupid Bobby, making me think a platoon is a viable option. :p

Tommy Poe said...

Bobby'll do that to ya. I have a feeling if he could, he would platoon every position that didn't have a switch hitter starting. It validates his coaching somehow because he gets to make moves every single game!

Renteria kinda needs to be traded. He's got to have more value than Escobar and you know the Braves and free agents. The Braves are like a shitty town and the free agents are the high school bigshots who talk about getting out. Only the lame ones stay.

...and John Smoltz.

Lauren T. said...

The Braves are like a shitty town and the free agents are the high school bigshots who talk about getting out. Only the lame ones stay.

...and John Smoltz.


Which really makes me wonder what's going to happen to Mr. Super 2 Francoeur. :/

Tommy Poe said...

I'm not Francoeur's biggest fan, though he surprised me a lot this year. I doubt the Braves will let him leave, though. Even if he reaches arbitration this year, they still got three years to hammer out a long term deal. Francoeur, and I can't believe I'm going to use this word to describe him, wisely knew he needed a good year before signing a long-term deal. I truly think he'll get a 5-6 year deal before the season opens.

Lauren T. said...

I'll be very interested to see how Jeff's eventual long-term Braves contract compares to McCann's contract. Rumor has it that he turned down a similar contract to Mac's last March because he thought he was worth more. :/

Anonymous said...

Trade Diaz. Better yet release him so he can choose the team he wants to play for.

He doesnt deserve to be part of Bobby's infatuation with platoons.