ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays have signed infielder Yandy Díaz to a three-year, $24 million contract through the 2025 season, including a $12 million club option for the 2026 season.
Díaz, 31, has spent parts of six seasons in the majors with Cleveland (2017-18) and Tampa Bay (2019-22) and is a career .278/.372/.411 (451-for-1,624) hitter with 39 home runs and 198 RBI. He was acquired by the Rays in a three-team trade on December 13, 2018 and is batting .277/.374/.419 (376-for-1,359) with 38 home runs and 170 RBI in 384 games with the Rays.
Last season, Díaz hit .296/.401/.423 (140-for-473) with nine home runs and 57 RBI in 137 games (126 starts) with the Rays and set career highs with 71 runs, 140 hits, 33 doubles, 78 walks and a .824 OPS. His .401 on-base pct. ranked fifth in the majors behind NYY Aaron Judge (.425), LAD Freddie Freeman (.407), HOU Yordan Alvarez (.406) and STL Paul Goldschmidt (.404) and ranked fourth for a single season in franchise history behind Carlos Peña (.411) in 2007, Fred McGriff (.405) in 1999 and Ben Zobrist (.405) in 2009. With 78 walks and 60 strikeouts, Díaz was one of six players in the majors to qualify for leaderboards and finish with more walks than strikeouts, joining MIN Luis Arraez, HOU Alex Bregman, TOR Alejandro Kirk, CLE Steven Kwan and WSH/SD Juan Soto. He became the first qualifier in Rays history to finish with more walks than strikeouts and his 78 walks tied for 11th in the majors and tied for fourth in the American League. Since the start of the 2020 season, his .383 on-base pct. ranks third in the AL (min. 500 PA) behind Judge (.395) and LAA Mike Trout (.391).
Díaz won the club’s 2022 Paul C. Smith Champion Award, as voted by the Tampa Bay Chapter of the BBWAA. The award is given to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of true professionalism on and off the field.
Díaz defected from Cuba to the Dominican Republic and trained for scouts there before signing with Cleveland on September 20, 2013. He was acquired by the Rays with right-handed pitcher Cole Sulser in a three-team trade with Cleveland and the Seattle Mariners. The Rays sent first baseman Jake Bauers to Cleveland and cash considerations to Seattle.
