The A’s locked up a 32-year-old versatile utility player for the second straight day, signing former All-Star infielder Aledmys Diaz to a reported two-year, $14.5 million deal Wednesday.

Diaz, who played every infield position for the world champion Astros last season, had a slash line of .255/.313/.424 with 32 home runs and 107 runs scored in his four years in Houston.

Diaz’s deal, which is pending a physical, was first announced by the New York Post.

Diaz is a lifetime .266 hitter over his seven-year career with the Cardinals (2016-17), Blue Jays (2018) and Astros. The Cuban-born Diaz’s best season came in his rookie year with the Cardinals, where he hit .300 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs while making the National League All-Star team.

His signing comes a day after the A’s signed former Milwaukee Brewer Jace Peterson to a two-year deal. Like Diaz, the 32-year-old Peterson figures to get time all around the infield for the A’s.

“Anytime we’re talking about bringing free agents in, the important thing to us is versatility,” A’s general manager David Forst said Wednesday. “I think we’re putting a premium on guys who can move around the diamond, give (manager) Mark (Kotsay) some flexibility. We have so many question marks in the position player group that I think we just need to stay flexible and have options.”

The two signings not only give the A’s a couple of solid, veteran players they sorely lacked a year ago, but Diaz and Peterson will allow Oakland to gradually phase in top prospects Zack Gelof (third baseman) and Tyler Soderstrom (first baseman/catcher) at some point in 2023.

Among those joining Diaz and Peterson in the infield mix will be veteran Tony Kemp (2B) and youngsters Jonah Bride (3B/2B), Jordan Diaz (2B), Vimael Machin (3B), Dermis Garcia (1B) and Kevin Smith (3B).

Forst, who said the team would be busy adding to the big league squad after losing 102 games last year, has now signed two free agents and traded for a relief pitcher (Chad Smith from Colorado) since the winter meetings began Sunday.

A’s add slugger in Rule 5 draft

The A’s may have found a gem in the Rule 5 draft when they selected left-handed hitting first baseman Ryan Noda from the Dodgers’ Triple-A team with the second overall pick.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Noda hit .259/.396/.474 with 25 home runs, 90 RBIs and 20 steals while appearing in 135 games with Oklahoma City last season. Although he did strike out 162 times, the slick-fielding 26-year-old was a pre-draft favorite of one Baseball America analyst who thought he was better than 10 current starting first basemen in the majors.

 

“I look at his ability to get on base. I look at the power. I don’t think the contact is that much of a deterrent overall. And the fact that he’s actually a good defensive first baseman, and can provide some value there,” said Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes. “I look at some of these guys who are playing first base on a daily basis, and you can’t tell me that Noda doesn’t have more upside than (Boston’s) Bobby Dalbec has at this point.”

Noda, a 15th-round pick in 2017 by Toronto, was sent to the Dodgers in the 2021 trade sending Ross Stripling to the Blue Jays. As per Rule 5 stipulations, Noda must remain on the A’s roster all season or be offered back to the Dodgers for half of the $100,000 Oakland paid for him Wednesday.

The A’s also added 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Joelvis Del Rosario from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization with the first overall pick in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Del Rosario, a 2018 international free-agent signing from the Dominican Republic, went 7-4 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.29 WHIP as a starter for Single-A Bradenton last season.

The A’s did not have any of their players selected by other organizations during either phase of Wednesday’s draft.