The Rockies are carrying three catchers for September. Colorado promoted prospect Drew Romo in conjunction with last month’s release of Elias Díaz. He joins fellow rookie Hunter Goodman and veteran Jacob Stallings in Bud Black’s catching corps.
Colorado probably won’t want to commit fully to the unproven duo of Romo and Goodman next season. It seems the club will look to keep Stallings in the fold. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding suggested last week that Colorado could try to bring him back. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post wrote similarly in a reader mailbag this morning that there’s mutual interest.
Stallings signed a $2MM deal with the Rox last offseason. He’s playing on a $1.5MM salary and due at least a $500K buyout on a $2MM mutual option for next season. While the simplest course of action would be for both sides to exercise the option, that’s exceedingly rare. Stallings figures to decline his end even if he hopes to stay in Denver. There’s a $1.5MM difference between the option value and the buyout. The 34-year-old backstop (35 in December) has played well enough to pursue a larger sum.
In 77 games, Stallings is hitting .260/.353/.450. He’s not likely to replicate a .319 average on balls in play, but he has a personal-high nine homers in 267 plate appearances. Stallings has roughly league average strikeout and walk numbers to go with that slight uptick in power.
Any kind of offensive production from Stallings is a bonus. His primary value lies in his defensive acumen. Stallings won a Gold Glove with the Pirates in 2021. He has a strong game-calling reputation and seemingly works well as a mentor to the team’s younger catchers. Stallings has thrown out a solid 22.5% of baserunners and remains one of the sport’s most sure-handed defenders. He has only been charged with one passed ball this season and has committed all of four passed balls since the start of 2021. Stallings doesn’t grade well as a pitch framer, but he’s otherwise a solid option behind the plate.
Stallings will probably be limited to one year but should earn a raise. Colorado signed him coming off a rough two-year stretch in Miami, where he hit .210/.287/.290 with lesser defensive grades. This year’s production could push his salary closer to guarantees secured by Luke Maile ($3.5MM), Austin Hedges ($4MM) and Martín Maldonado ($4.25MM) last winter.
Goodman and Stallings have taken the majority of recent playing time. Romo, 23, has been pushed into a third catcher role after starting his MLB career with a .174/.208/.239 slash through 13 games. Saunders writes that the Rox could send Romo back to Triple-A to start next season and rely on a Stallings/Goodman tandem if they re-sign the veteran.
Sounds good. Stallings has been steady and better than expected. Him and Goodman next year will be good while Romo gets more seasoned.
Mutual interest??? Who would want to play for the Rockies??? The Rockies are probably the only team that would give him starting time
Sometimes, it’s not about baseball-only. The Denver area is really nice, Colorado has great outdoors activities like hiking, fishing, and winter sports during the offseason, and there are great school districts (if a player has kids). Coors Field is a beautiful ballpark and the fans are passionate and care about baseball (even if the owner doesn’t.) And generally speaking, it seems like the Rockies treat their players and staff well. I don’t know Stallings from a dude on the street, so I’m not speaking for him, but it’s ok if it’s just a way to make a living.
Society and I have mutual interest in me eating a philly cheesesteak and daydrinking in a public park at 2:13 pm tomorrow
I’d be OK with that. Romo looks like he needs more seasoning anyway and Goodman really looks like he might be a legit #1 catcher. It might even be worth exploring the trade market for Romo this offseason. I’m not saying trade him just to trade him, but if you can get some pitching help for him I believe you need to explore it while Romo still has the prospect luster on him,
1. They’re not gonna trade Romo. He doesn’t have positional flexibility like Goodman and so he has to stay at catcher. Goodman can play different spots. 2. The Rockies aren’t usually smart enough to trade guys while they have prospect shine.
Goodman doesn’t really have positional flexibility. He only hits well when he catches. His OPS is almost double when he catches versus any other position. Could be a coincidence, could be mental, but it’s a big enough difference to be considered. Plus Goodman is not among the top 5 Rockies outfielders and Toglia seems to play every day at first base, so catcher is really his only real shot of sticking.
And why does the lack of positional flexibility mean you can’t trade Romo? To me, it seems like a better reason to shop him around.