Pirates Sign Jose Diaz, Drop Cristopher Richardson

The Pirates have signed reliever Jose Diaz, probably to pitch at Altoona or thereabouts. He's listed at 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, which means he should be fun to watch for those of you at Blair County Ballpark next summer. He's posted some reasonably good numbers in Class AA, but he's already 27.

The Pirates also dropped Cristopher Richardson, who had pitched for them in the Dominican Summer League the past two years, and signed Rudy Pena and Gerlis Rodriguez, probably as coaches.

Update (by Vlad): There's a pretty good overview of Diaz in this 2010 piece from the Frederick News Post.

6 months ago Charlie Wilmoth 22 comments 0 recs |

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hahahahaaaa... altoona is in for a treat

i saw him pitch a couple times this season for Bowie against Richmond. the 300lbs is all in his belly. he spent more time pulling up his pants than actually pitching.

he threw fairly hard when i saw him.

by white angus on Nov 18, 2011 8:15 AM EST reply actions

he was either poppin the mitt or the waistband in his pants

by white angus on Nov 18, 2011 8:15 AM EST up reply actions

Tim notes that he doesn’t throw particularly hard

I think Tim initially had the wrong Jose Diaz. I’ve seen Diaz (the one they signed, according to BA) several times and he sat in the mid-90s. Some articles on him say he throws in the upper 90s and has hit 100.

And he weighs a lot more than 300.

You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.

by WTM on Nov 18, 2011 8:26 AM EST reply actions

baseball reference has him at 255

yeahhhhh, in his bra!

by white angus on Nov 18, 2011 8:29 AM EST up reply actions

Ah, ok.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 8:39 AM EST up reply actions

Charlie you might be setting a bad example

Isn’t this breaking news a Fanshot? Or is this the calm before the storm when we sign Jose Reyes this weekend?

by pineapplepete on Nov 18, 2011 8:44 AM EST reply actions

You’re probably right. This is crucial stuff right here.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 8:58 AM EST up reply actions

Walter Young?

When I first saw the picture of Diaz in the orange jersey, Walter Young, former Pirate and Oriole farmhand, came to mind. Walter was actually listed at 322 lbs.

by BrianO' on Nov 18, 2011 8:57 AM EST reply actions

Diaz is significantly larger than Walter Young (whom, you may recall, was offered a scholarship to play DT for LSU). As of two years ago, Bowie needed to custom-order Diaz’s uniforms, since there aren’t any standard ones large enough to accommodate him.

by Vlad on Nov 18, 2011 9:00 AM EST up reply actions