Diaz does not set the world on fire when he steps into the box, however he is a very competent big league hitter. He will be 33 years old by opening day of 2011 and has been in the league since 2003. He has spent time with the Rays, Royals, and Braves. Here's his numbers for his last 5 seasons with Atlanta:
| Year | G | R | HR | RBI | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 124 | 37 | 7 | 32 | .327 | .364 | .475 | .839 |
| 2007 | 135 | 44 | 12 | 45 | .338 | .368 | .497 | .865 |
| 2008 | 43 | 9 | 2 | 14 | .244 | .264 | .304 | .568 |
| 2009 | 125 | 56 | 13 | 58 | .313 | .390 | .488 | .878 |
| 2010 | 84 | 27 | 7 | 31 | .250 | .302 | .438 | .739 |
| 8 Seasons | 559 | 185 | 43 | 192 | .301 | .350 | .456 | .806 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com
You can see that Diaz had a down year in 2010. His .250 batting average was 51 points lower than his career average, his on-base percentage was 48 points lower, and his slugging percentage was 18 points below that career average. Diaz did have significantly less opportunities in 2010, getting only 244 plate appearances (when he had averaged 317 in his years with the Braves before that and posted a career-high 425 in '09), probably mainly due to the emergence of Braves super-prospect Jason Heyward.
Diaz does not pose much of a power threat, which the Pirates would definitely like to have in their 2011 starting right fielder, but he really seems to be the best available player on the market right now for the Pirates. He won't cost them an arm and a leg and he is very likely to hit for good average and provide quality veteran leadership on and off the field.
Diaz is a right handed batter who torches left handers. In his career he has batted .335/.373/533 against them. 29 of his 43 career home runs have been off lefties. He is slightly above league average against righties as well, hitting .269/.327/.382 off them in his career.
Now the Pirates aren't the only team that could use Diaz's bat. The Philadelphia Phillies are the front runners to get Diaz. The Phils lost all-star Jayson Werth to free agency this offseason, so they will be looking to fill that big void in their lineup. They know Diaz's skills full well, he has killed them in his career (.338/.366/.591, 8 HR, 31 RBI in 165 PA against Philadelphia). PhilliesNation, a Phillies blog gives you a better look at why the Phillies would really like to get Diaz.
You can bet that the Pirates will have tough competition to sign Diaz, but they still have all of that money they said they were willing to spend this offseason, and after not getting Jorge de la Rosa, I think they will seriously consider spending some of it on Diaz. They are probably going to have to over-pay for Diaz since the Phillies are most likely going to pursue him pretty aggressively, but I think it could be a very good move for the Pirates.