Athletics sign infielders Aledmys Diaz and Jace Peterson

The Oakland Athletics made an attempt to improve their infield this week with the free agent signings of Aledmys Diaz and Jace Peterson. On Wednesday, the Athletics signed Diaz, a shortstop from Santa Clara, Cuba to a two-year deal worth $14.5 million according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, and Perterson, a second baseman from Lake Charles, Louisiana according to Kyle Kishimoto of fangraphs.com. The financial terms of the Peterson contract have not yet been disclosed.

Aledmys Diaz

Diaz will be joining his fourth Major League Baseball team. He was previously with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016 and 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018, and the Houston Astros from 2019 to 2022.

This past season with the Astros, Diaz batted .243 with 12 home runs and 38 runs batted in. During 92 games, 327 plate appearances and 305 at bats, Diaz scored 35 runs, and had 74 hits, 13 doubles, one stolen base, 18 walks, 123 total bases, two sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .287 and a slugging percentage of .403. Diaz’s lone stolen base of 2022 actually came against the Athletics in a 6-1 Houston win on July 10. Both of Diaz’s sacrifice flies also came in Houston wins. The first came in a 7-3 Astros win over the Texas Rangers on August 11, and the second came in a 5-0 Astros win over the Tampa Bay Rays on September 20.

In his rookie Major League season, Diaz was a National League All-Star with the Cardinals. That year he batted .300 with 17 home runs and 65 runs batted in, and had career highs in runs scored (71), hits (121), doubles (28), triples (three), runs batted in, batting average, on base percentage (.369), slugging percentage .510, total bases (206), and sacrifice bunts (two). Then in 2022, Diaz was part of the Astros team that won the World Series.

Jace Peterson

The Athletics are the sixth team for Peterson. He has previously played with the San Diego Padres (2014), the Atlanta Braves (2015-2017), the New York Yankees (2018), the Baltimore Orioles (2018-2019), and the Milwaukee Brewers (2002-2022). This past season in Milwaukee, Peterson batted .236 with eight home runs and 34 runs batted in. During 288 at bats, he scored 44 runs and had 68 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, 12 stolen bases, 33 walks, 110 total bases, two sacrifice bunts, and three sacrifice flies.