MLB umpiring crew goes from Joe West to Laz Diaz

Most MLB fans can agree that the less of Joe West on the diamond, the better. While he did provide some amusement as being one of the umpires in the first Naked Gun movie, the fact that he seemed to have learned his craft from Frank Dreben was problematic.

At least Cowboy Joe said he would retire at the end of the 2021 season. He kept that promise as his retirement was announced on Friday, one of five umpires to call it a career.

MLB replacing one disaster with another as crew chief

West’s retirement, amongst those other retirements, also means that there are five crew chief openings on the various umpiring crews. In theory, these openings should be rewarded to competent umpires, those whose names really do not come up in conversation. Instead, Laz Diaz was given one of those roles.

Most of the time, Diaz is not a terrible option as an umpire. He is excellent on the bases, making the correct calls and being in the right spots. If that was all he was tasked to do, he would be one of the better umpires in the game, disappearing into the background and becoming relatively anonymous.

The problems come whenever Diaz is behind the plate. there are times when a random coin toss would be more accurate. Just like when a pitcher fights his command, the zone can wander on Diaz, fluctuating as the game goes on.

At least Diaz is mostly useful. It would have been much more of a disaster had West been replaced with Angel Hernandez as crew chief. While Hernandez has gotten some time as an interim crew chief, he has also legally proven that his incompetence is not discrimination.

Joe West has ridden off into the sunset one final time and has officially retired as an MLB umpire. He is being replaced with a slight upgrade in Laz Diaz.