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SF Giants sign former Dodgers, Orioles top prospect to minor-league deal

The SF Giants agreed to a minor-league contract with outfielder Yusniel Díaz, a former Orioles and Dodgers top prospect.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants sign former Dodgers, Orioles top prospect to minor-league deal
SF Giants sign former Dodgers, Orioles top prospect to minor-league deal /
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The SF Giants signed 27-year-old outfielder Yusniel Díaz to a minor-league contract earlier this week, according to his MLB transactions page. The deal was first reported by freelance baseball journalist Francys Romero. Díaz was long considered one of the top-100 prospects in the league and made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2022. However, he has yet to turn his tools into success at the Triple-A level.

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Yusniel Díaz fields the ball in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training. (2021)
Orioles OF Yusniel Díaz fields a ball in a game during spring training. (2021) / Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Díaz spent last season with the Dodgers Double-A affiliate, hitting .278/.374/.484 with 21 doubles, 16 home runs, 56 walks, and just 78 strikeouts in 406 plate appearances. Díaz still has an impressive collection of tools, combining above-average power potential with an excellent eye, decent speed, and a plus arm. However, he has yet to put it all together. Defensively, Díaz has been limited to the outfield corners in recent seasons, primarily playing right field.

A Cuban native, Díaz was one of the best young players in the Caribbean when he defected to sign with an MLB team prior to the 2016 season. An unrestricted free agent at the age of 18, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed the outfielder for a whopping $15.5 million signing bonus. It's worth noting that Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was the Dodgers general manager at the time.

Díaz hit the ground running in the United States, hitting .272/.333/.418 jumping straight to High-A before his 20th birthday. Already starting to appear on top-100 prospect lists, Díaz reached Double-A before the end of the following season and demolished the hitter-friendly Texas League over 33 games.

In 2018, Díaz hit .314/.428/.477 with 10 doubles, 4 triples, and 6 home runs in 59 games with the Dodgers Double-A affiliate and was the star of the 2018 Futures Game, hitting a pair of home runs. With his stock near an all-time high, he was packaged in a trade to the Orioles for Manny Machado. Reassigned to the pitcher-friendly Double-A Eastern League, Díaz's production dipped, but was far from concerning given his youth. According to most outlets, he was considered the best prospect in the Orioles' organization.

After another productive Double-A season in 2019 was cut short by injuries, and likely prevented him from receiving a call up to Triple-A, Díaz lost the 2020 season to COVID-19 pandemic. Upon his return, Díaz was unable to rekindle his previous form. In 2021, he hit an abysmal .161/.233/.265 across the upper minors. He put together a more solid 2022 campaign, posting a .252/.348/.372 line at Triple-A, receiving his first MLB call up, receiving one plate appearance (he struck out).

However, following the 2022 season, Díaz was designated for assignment and became a minor league free agent. Once again, he signed with the Dodgers, albeit to a much less lucrative contract. Now Yusniel Díaz will have an opportunity to solidify a spot on the Sacramento River Cats roster, hoping to earn an MLB opportunity with the SF Giants.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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