The Royals traded Matt Stairs today to Texas for 26-year old minor-league pitcher Joselo Diaz. Diaz has spent time in Double-A and Triple-A in the Rangers’ farm system this season, where he was a combined 2-0 with 4 saves and a 2.40 ERA. He was the closer in Oklahoma when the Royals obtain him.According to this, Diaz was originally signed as a free agent by the Dodgers in 1996 after going undrafted. If that’s true, then he was 16 when the Dodgers signed him—not very likely. He first started playing rookie ball in 2003—which seems a little late (he would have been 23). Whatever the case, he reportedly has a fastball that reaches 98 mph.
I hate to see Matt Stairs go. He wanted to finish his career in Kansas City and he’s been talking about moving into a coaching role when his career is over. That’s the sentimental side of me talking and usually it wins the battle, but in this case, if we truly got a guy who we can put at the end of our pen in place of MacDougal, then I’ll be happy.
RR wishes Matt Stairs well with the Rangers.
UPDATE: This article at Royals.com confirms that Diaz was originally drafted by the Dodgers when he was 16. It also says that he'll report to Omaha.
My only question now is--who is going to play first base tonight? Meintkiewicz is thought to still be on the shelf. Paul Phillips played there breifly last night, and I guess he could do it again tonight, but hopefully the call has already gone out to Justin Huber in Omaha. He's currently hitting .282 with 12 HR and 27 RBI in Omaha.
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