Einar Díaz

Infobox MLB retired
name=Einar Díaz


width = 150
position=Catcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1972|12|28
Chiriquí Province, Panama
debutdate=September 9
debutyear=by|1996
debutteam=Cleveland Indians
finaldate=September 16
finalyear=by|2006
finalteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.254
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=21
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=202
teams=
*Cleveland Indians (by|1996-by|2002)
*Texas Rangers (by|2003)
*Montreal Expos (by|2004)
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|2005)
*Los Angeles Dodgers (by|2006)

Einar Antonio Díaz (born December 28, 1972 in Chiriquí Province, Panama) is a former Major League Baseball catcher.

Díaz was called up in mlby|1996 by the Cleveland Indians to back up then-starting catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. He played sparingly from 1996-mlby|1998, and in mlby|1999 he got his first starting job with the Indians due to an injury to Alomar. From mlby|2001-mlby|2002, Díaz was the primary starting catcher for the Cleveland Indians. Following the 2002 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers to replace All-Star catcher Iván Rodríguez, who left for free agency. This was the last starting job Díaz would see, as his below-average bat skills earned him a backup job with the Montreal Expos in mlby|2004, the St. Louis Cardinals in mlby|2005, and the minor league Buffalo Bisons in by|2006.

Díaz made a pitching appearance for the Bisons on June 4, 2006, and was the losing pitcher of record that game. [http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t422&t=g_wra&gid=2006_06_04_dubaaa_bufaaa_2]

Díaz never played with the Indians in his second stint with the organization in 2006. On August 12, 2006, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers (as the Dodgers were in need of another backup catcher after Sandy Alomar Jr. was traded). Díaz would only compile 3 at-bats as a Dodger, collecting 2 hits in those 3 at-bats.

At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Díaz signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was assigned to their Indianapolis Triple-A club at the end of by|2007 spring training. On June 30, 2007, while scoring from third on a Brad Eldred multiple RBI hit, Díaz suffered a total rupture of his patellar tendon when he crossed homeplate, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.

Diaz retired at the end of the 2007 season. He was invited to the Cleveland Indians spring training camp in Winter Haven in by|2008 as a special assistant for catchers, and is currently a coach for the Gulf Coast Orioles in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system.

External links

*baseball-reference|id=d/diazei01