Diaz avoids arbitration, signs new deal with Braves

By DAVID O'BRIEN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves avoided arbitration with Matt Diaz by signing him to a one-year, $2.55 million deal on Saturday. He nearly doubled his salary from 2009, when he hit .313 with career-highs in on-base percentage (.390), home runs (13), RBIs (58) and stolen bases (12).

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Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com Braves' Matt Diaz hit .313 last season with career-highs in on-base percentage (.390), home runs (13), RBIs (58) and stolen bases (12).

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Diaz again thrived against left-handed pitching, posting a .412 average that ranked second in the majors behind the Mets' David Wright (.416).

This is the third consecutive year that the Braves avoided arbitration with Diaz, who has surpassed expectations since coming from Kansas City in a December 2005 trade for minor league pitcher Ricardo Rodriguez.

Diaz has hit .316 with 34 homers, 149 RBIs and a .829 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in 427 games for the Braves over four seasons. Also, his .298 average in 114 at-bats as a pinch-hitter during that period is the best in the majors (minimum 110 at-bats).

The Braves had until midnight to tender contracts to unsigned players, including remaining arbitration-eligibles Kelly Johnson and relievers Peter Moylan and Boone Logan.

Only Johnson was considered a candidate for non-tender, with the Braves believed to be leaning toward that option if they couldn't trade him.

Johnson lost the starting second-base job to Martin Prado last season and could make more than $3 million in arbitration – too much for a bench player without much defensive versatility, on a team with payroll restrictions.