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Diaz, who received a demotion to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday after a very slow start to spring, may need to improve his conditioning in order to earn a call back up to the big-league club, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Diaz started 37 games at third base last season, but that didn't earn him enough capital to offset an .083 average across 10 Cactus League games to open spring training. The Athletics also have some viable contenders for the starting role at the hot corner, including Darell Hernaiz and Abraham Toro. As such, Diaz may have an uphill battle in the short term to log big-league at-bats, but getting into better condition will help his chances. "He's a kid that is working on certain things and understanding where he needs to be physically," manager Mark Kotsay said. "Getting to that place will help him not just this year, but for his future, too."
