The Rangers are in agreement with reliever Alexis Díaz on a one-year deal, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News first suggested that the sides were closing in on a deal, and has suggested the contract will be on the cheaper side.
With Phil Maton, Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Hoby Milner, and Danny Coulombe all reaching free agency after the season, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young has to assemble a new bullpen once again. He made a pair of relief additions within minutes of each other Friday night with the signings of Diaz and Tyler Alexander.
Diaz, 29, was a 12th round pick of the Reds out of a Puerto Rico high school a decade ago. He skipped Triple-A to make the Reds’ Opening Day roster in 2022, making good on the promotion by posting a 1.84 ERA and earning a fifth place Rookie of the Year finish despite a bout with biceps tendinitis. With a strong start to the 2023 season, Diaz earned an All-Star nod. He finished third in the NL with 37 saves that year. Diaz punched out 31.2% of batters faced during his first two seasons, 14th in baseball among relievers with at least 100 innings. However, he also had the fourth-worst walk rate in that group at 12.8%.
Diaz was able to save another 28 games with a 3.99 ERA for the Reds in 2024, but his strikeout rate plummeted to 22.7% with the walks remaining a problem. On the strength of his saves totals and early success, he landed a $4.5MM salary for 2025 as he entered the arbitration system.
The righty started 2025 on the IL with a hamstring injury, and things only went downhill from there. Diaz was still under consideration for the Reds’ closing job when he made his mid-April season debut, but after a disastrous three-homer outing against the Cardinals on April 30th, he was sent back to Triple-A.
Diaz’s control issues continued at Triple-A, and by the end of May the Reds sent him to the Dodgers in a trade for minor league pitcher Mike Villani. Diaz served in a low-leverage, up-and-down capacity for the Dodgers, who eventually designated him for assignment on September 4th. He then joined the Braves in a waiver claim and made three appearances before being sent down. Diaz elected free agency in early October.
Diaz’s nine-game stint with the Dodgers was easy to forget, but it ending up playing a role in the club signing his older brother Edwin a few days ago to a three-year, $69MM deal. According to Edwin, “He told me the Dodgers are a really good organization. He made it easy for me.”
Alexis may be on the opposite end of the relief salary spectrum as compared to his older brother, but Chris Young had success last winter with bargain-basement relievers. He let Kirby Yates and David Robertson depart for greener pastures, signing Armstrong, Webb, Milner, Martin, and Luke Jackson to one-year deals topping out with Martin’s $5.5MM. All but Jackson had solid years. Milner and trade deadline pickup Maton signed with the Cubs this offseason. Southpaw Robert Garcia serves as the main holdover.
Mike Maddux departed for the Angels after three years as the Rangers’ pitching coach, leading the club to elevate Jordan Tiegs to the role under new manager Skip Schumaker. According to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, “Tiegs, 38, ran the team’s bullpen last season in his first on-field role with the big league club, helped stabilize a group that was largely pieced together the previous winter and drew positive reviews from veteran relievers and organizational higher-ups.”
Tiegs will have his work cut out for him with Diaz. The righty’s average fastball velocity slipped from 95.8 miles per hour as a rookie to 93.6 with his three teams this year, though it plays up with some of the best extension in the game. It’s been two years since Diaz missed bats with a high spin rate fastball and one of the best sliders featured by any reliever. His control is worse than ever. Diaz has been able to dodge longballs until this year, but doesn’t really keep the ball on the ground.
Young’s active Friday evening included the signings of Diaz, Alexander, and catcher Danny Jansen in rapid succession. He previously swapped Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo for an OBP boost. With limited payroll flexibility, Young figures to continue adding to the pitching staff.
