After bad trade for Diaz, Rangers deal him to Expos

By Jim Callis
April 3, 2004

John Hart's tenure as Rangers general manager hasn't exactly been distinguished, and one of his worst moves came in December 2002. Hart surrendered up-and-coming slugger Travis Hafner to get Einar Diaz from the Indians in a misguided attempt to replace Ivan Rodriguez. After Diaz turned in his usual lackluster performance at the plate in 2003, Texas decided enough was enough.

On Saturday, the Rangers traded Diaz and minor league righthander Justin Echols to Montreal for a pair of prospects, righthander Chris Young and catcher Josh McKinley. Texas also will pay $2 million of Diaz' $2.5 million salary this season. Hart lavished Diaz with a four-year, $6.3 million contract when he was Cleveland's GM in 2001.

Diaz, 31, is a defensive specialist best suited to be a backup, a role he'll play in Montreal behind starter Brian Schneider. Diaz is a good receiver with a solid arm, and he ranked third in the American League last year by throwing out 31 percent of basestealers. But he simply doesn't provide enough offense. He doesn't hit for average or power, and he doesn't draw walks. Diaz batted .257/.294/.341 with four homers and 35 RBIs in 101 games last year, right in line with his career totals of .259/.306/.354 with 19 homers and 174 RBIS in 557 contests. He lost his starting job in Texas to rookie Gerald Laird this spring. Diaz' contact contains a club option for $3.25 million next year, but the Expos almost assuredly will buy him out for $400,000.

Young's stock has fallen since the Pirates gave him $1.65 million as a third-round pick in 2000. Young had established himself as a legitimate NBA center prospect while at Princeton, and at 6-foot-10 is one of the tallest players in professional baseball history. But he hasn't improved much since signing, and Pittsburgh traded him to get Matt Herges in December 2002. The 24-year-old Young's fastball isn't nearly as intimidating as his size, sitting at 87-93 mph. He also has an improving curveball and a changeup, but nothing in his arsenal qualifies as a plus pitch. He went 9-6, 3.11 in 23 starts between high Class A Brevard County and Double-A Harrisburg (where his ERA was 4.01) last year. In 133 innings, he had a 103-27 strikeout-walk ratio while opponents hit .221 with 12 homers. He'll begin 2004 at Double-A Frisco.

Echols, 23, was an 11th-round pick in 1999 out of a Phoenix high school. He's a finesse specialist who has missed a surprising number of bats but sometimes battles his control. He went 5-9, 3.49 in 33 games (21 starts) between high Class A Stockton and Frisco in 2003. He had a 131-69 K-BB ratio in 142 innings as opponents batted .206 with nine homers. Echols' best pitch is a tight curveball, but he'll have to improve the command of his 87-90 mph fastball to succeed at higher levels. He nibbled too much in Double-A, posting a 4.91 ERA in eight starts. He also uses a splitter as a changeup.

McKinley, 25, has yet to play in the majors since being drafted 11th overall in 1998. The Rangers first tried to acquire him last summer, when they agreed to send Juan Gonzalez to Montreal for McKinley and righthander Seung Song, but Gonzalez vetoed the deal. Signed as a shortstop, McKinley moved to third base in 2000 and second base in 2001, then to catcher in instructional league last year. The Rangers will keep him behind the plate and probably will send him to Double-A for the third straight season. McKinley had the best season of his career while repeating that level in 2003, hitting .288/.367/.467 with 15 homers, 75 RBIs and 17 steals in 126 games. He has gotten stronger and improved his pitch recognition, but he still has holes in his swing and has to prove he can repeat that performance. His arm strength should help him behind the plate, and he has a chance to become a big league utilityman if he can pull the conversion off and continue to hit.