Hopes for the Offseason: Aledmys Diaz

Note: Hopes for the Offseason will be a series of posts regarding my hopes for players on the current St. Louis Cardinals’ 40-man roster. I took a break from this feature last week after the passing of Oscar Taveras. Now, we’re getting back on track!

Imagine my surprise when I saw Aledmys Diaz was next up on the list for my Hopes for the Offseason feature. The Cuban prospect was signed earlier this year to a four year deal worth $8 million. He is expected to be the St. Louis Cardinals shortstop of the future.

This season he played a total of 47 games with the minor league teams in Palm Beach and Springfield. The rest of the time he spent recovering for injuries. He had a rough season.

Here are his numbers for those 47 games:

Report from Baseball-Reference.com.

Not bad for the time he did play.

I’m really curious why he’s on the major league roster. I’m guessing it has to do with his being signed. But. We aren’t likely to see him play at Busch Stadium for at least two years. I’m sure now that I say this we’ll see him next September! And that would be great. But I’m really doubting it!

So, what should Diaz do this offseason?

* Work on conditioning to stay healthy. Do some yoga, cardio, strength work …

* Keep working on the fundamentals. Hitting, fielding. The basics.

Basically? Keep working and improving because we’re looking forward to seeing you in the majors!