Carlos Diaz, a promising lefty who the Braves once acquired straight-up for former MVP Jeff Burroughs, passed away recently at the age of 67.
Seattle soured on him, trading him to the Braves for 30 year old Jeff Burroughs in March 1981. Carlos began to find himself while pitching in the Braves system. He was still a bit inconsistent, but he had a decent fastball and a killer curve and was tough on lefty hitters. He made his major league debut on June 30, 1982 against the Astros and picked up the win, in spite of surrendering a run on two hits in his inning of work, when the Braves scored 4 in the bottom of the 9th. Through 19 games, his ERA was over 4, so the Braves shipped him to the Mets for veteran Tom Hausman on September 10. Carlos worked ten games for the Mets without surrendering a run and looked like a key bullpen piece as the Frank Cashen Mets looked to rebuild.
Carlos looked great in 1983. His ERA was way down, his strikeouts were up and left-handed hitters melted before him. Down the stretch, the Dodgers wanted him but no deal could be worked out. The Dodgers kept it up, though, and at the winter meetings that year, they got their man, though it cost them Sid Fernandez--then the reigning Texas League Pitcher of the Year. Mets fans figured they'd been had--until they saw Sid pitch. Carlos spent parts of three seasons with the Dodgers and was at his best in 1985 when they reached the Post-Season. But a series of injuries kept him from being the pitcher he could have been and, ultimately, ended his career. The Dodgers released Carlos in mid-October 1986--the same day they announced a hike in ticket prices--and the Diaz for Fernandez deal would forever go down as one of the Dodgers worst ever.
Carlos gave it one last try with the A's in the spring of 1987, but didn't even make it to the end of spring training. He returned home, taking a job as a driver with a courier company. Carlos passed away on September 28.