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What Would It Take For The Rangers To Duck Under The Luxury Tax Line?

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The 2023 Angels entered the trade deadline as something of a long-shot contender but nevertheless embarked on an aggressive win-now push. In an effort both to break their postseason drought and perhaps to show impending free agent Shohei Ohtani a commitment to winning, the Halos went out and acquired Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone. It was a valiant, if not desperate effort, and it fell short almost immediately. By mid-August, the Angels were buried in the standings with virtually no hope of climbing back into contention. With the former August trade waiver system no longer in place, GM Perry Minasian and his staff waved the white flag in a new and more drastic way: they put more than one quarter of the roster on outright waivers.

By placing Giolito, Lopez, Cron, Grichuk, Leone, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe and Tyler Anderson on waivers, the Angels positioned themselves to A) save an enormous amount of money, B) potentially dip back under the luxury tax threshold (they succeeded), and C) impact several postseason races ... just not in the way they originally envisioned. For those who don't recall, the Guardians claimed Giolito, Lopez and Moore. Renfroe was claimed by the Reds. Leone went to the Mariners. Grichuk and Anderson were not claimed.

Last week, MLBTR's Darragh McDonald previewed a handful of veterans who could hit waivers in just this fashion later this month. Since Darragh wrote that piece, one team has emerged as an even likelier candidate to go down this road; as the Astros have gone on an eight-game winning streak and the Mariners have kept in arm's reach, the Rangers have fallen to a daunting 10 games back in the AL West and 10.5 back in the Wild Card hunt. FanGraphs gives the Rangers a 0.6% chance of reaching the postseason. Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA is more bullish ... at 2.4%. Texas isn't mathematically eliminated, but they're not far off.

As Darragh noted last week and as both Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Becker of FanGraphs have explored this week, there's an argument that the Rangers should jettison some of their impending free agents and cut back costs. In his column, Becker looked at how much money the Rangers would save by placing their impending free agents on waivers two days before the Aug. 31 postseason eligibility deadline. Rosenthal noted within his column that there's no clear path to dipping under the luxury tax for the Rangers, "so their only motivation would be to save on salary."

Technically that's true, but it's also not impossible for the Rangers to duck under the threshold without placing their entire roster on waivers for the taking. While sneaking under the tax threshold is a tall order, it could potentially be done without completely decimating next season's roster. Let's take a look at how they could get there and at what type of benefits they'd receive for doing so.

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Pirates Sign Beau Sulser To Minor League Contract

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The Pirates brought Beau Sulser back on a minor league deal on Thursday. Pittsburgh assigned the 30-year-old righty to Double-A Altoona. Sulser had been with the Blue Jays on a non-roster contract before being released last week.

A tenth-round pick by the Bucs in the 2017 draft, Sulser got to the big leagues five years later. He made four appearances before being designated for assignment and lost on waivers to Baltimore. Sulser pitched six times for the O’s and finished his first MLB campaign with a 3.63 earned run average through 22 1/3 innings. He didn’t miss many bats, though, and the Orioles cut him loose at the end of that season.

Pittsburgh claimed him back but ran him through waivers almost immediately. Sulser elected free agency and took a job with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Wiz released him in June, setting the stage for another minor league deal with Pittsburgh. Sulser finished the year in Triple-A with the Pirates before signing with Toronto this May.

In 47 2/3 innings with the Jays’ top affiliate in Buffalo, Sulser turned in a 5.29 ERA. He struck out a below-average 17.5% of opponents against a strong 6.1% walk rate. That’s generally par for the course, but Sulser’s grounder rate fell and he had a very tough time keeping the ball in the park (2.45 HR/9). He’ll now move back a step on the minor league ladder but returns to an organization with which he’s clearly familiar, as this is the fourth time the Pirates have acquired him.

Giants Reinstate Ethan Small From Injured List

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The Giants reinstated left-hander Ethan Small from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. San Francisco moved Wilmer Flores from the 10-day to the 60-day IL to open the necessary spot on the 40-man roster. Flores suffered a knee injury and will not return this season.

Small has been on the injured list all season after suffering an oblique strain in Spring Training. It was a tough start to his San Francisco tenure, coming around six weeks after the Giants acquired him from the Brewers in a cash deal. Small began a minor league rehab stint in the Arizona complex league on July 16. He pitched three times there and once in Low-A before heading to Sacramento, where he has tossed five innings across six appearances. Small has surrendered six runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Pitchers can only spend 30 days on a rehab assignment, so the Giants needed to activate Small today. They’ll keep him in Triple-A in what would be his last option year if he spends at least 20 more days in the minors. A former first-round pick by Milwaukee, Small has spent the majority of the last two seasons in Triple-A. He worked as a starter in 2022 before kicking to the bullpen a year ago, pitching to a 3.18 ERA in 51 innings. His major league résumé consists of four games (two starts) between 2022-23.

Dodgers Place Tyler Glasnow On Injured List

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The Dodgers placed Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list shortly before tonight’s matchup with the Cardinals. It’s the second IL stint of the season for the lanky right-hander, who is dealing with elbow tendinitis. Rookie southpaw Justin Wrobleski was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City and will make his fifth big league start this evening.

While there had not been any indication that Glasnow was battling injury, the Dodgers announced yesterday that they were moving his scheduled start back from tonight to Saturday. As Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic observes (on X), it seems likely the Dodgers will turn to Bobby Miller to take the ball tomorrow instead. Miller has been on optional assignment since shorty before the All-Star Break but is traveling with the MLB club on the taxi squad. Miller has continued to struggle over three Triple-A starts since being demoted. He hasn’t pithed in a week, though, so he’ll likely be recalled.

There’s nothing to suggest that Glasnow is in for an extended absence. Losing him for at least two weeks is nevertheless another blow to a rotation that has gotten hit hard by injury. The Dodgers are without Yoshinobu Yamamoto because of a rotator cuff strain and have been without Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan all season. Each of Gonsolin, May and Sheehan have undergone significant arm surgeries. Top prospect River Ryan is joining them in that regard. He’s headed for Tommy John surgery and might be out until 2026.

Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler recently returned from extended injury absences. Miller lost a couple months to a shoulder problem and has looked like a shell of his rookie self since returning. The Dodgers acquired Jack Flaherty in one of the biggest deadline deals, though he’s not without health questions himself. Rookie righty Gavin Stone has stepped up as a surprisingly crucial rotation piece, taking the ball 22 times and turning in a 3.63 ERA through 121 1/3 innings.

Wrobleski’s appearance tonight is expected to be a spot start. That’d leave L.A. with a rotation of Flaherty, Stone, Kershaw, Buehler and Miller for the next few weeks. They’ll obviously hope for Glasnow to return in short order. Their offseason trade acquisition has been fantastic when healthy, working to a 3.49 ERA while striking out more than 32% of batters faced over 22 starts. This season’s 134 innings is already his career high in any major or minor league season.

Durability has long been the biggest question with Glasnow, who lost most of the 2022 season to Tommy John surgery. His IL placement early this year was a lot less concerning. Glasnow was out for a minimal 15-day stint around the All-Star Break because of lower back inflammation — an injury break that also served as a check on his escalating workload.

The Dodgers felt relatively comfortable with their place in the division at that time. Hot streaks by the Padres and Diamondbacks have closed the gap, cutting L.A.’s lead in the NL West to two games. The Dodgers remain a near lock to make the postseason, but they’re not cruising to the division title the way that most had expected.

Getting healthier by October still remains the team’s biggest priority. Their rotation was decimated by injury by the time the playoffs rolled around a year ago. They went into the postseason relying on Miller and a clearly diminished version of Kershaw who was pitching through a shoulder injury that required surgery. The Diamondbacks swept them out of the Division Series on their path to the NL pennant.

The Dodgers aren’t at last year’s panic level right now. Flaherty has pitched like a potential Game 1 starter this year. Glasnow may be back well in advance of the postseason. Yamamoto is hoping for a return late in the regular season; he threw a 17-pitch simulated game this afternoon as he starts to rebuild his arm strength (relayed on X by Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). There’s still a path for the Dodgers running a playoff rotation comprising Glasnow, Yamamoto, Flaherty and one of Stone or Kershaw.

Los Angeles will get some help on the pitching staff tomorrow, albeit in the bullpen. DiGiovanna tweets that the team will reinstate Ryan Brasier from the 60-day injured list. The righty has been out since late April on account of a significant calf strain. L.A. already has an opening on the 40-man roster after designating Amed Rosario for assignment earlier in the week.

Braves Outright Parker Dunshee

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August 16: Dunshee went unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, tweets David O’Brien of the Athletic. Since this is his first career outright, he’ll remain in the organization without carrying a 40-man roster spot. The Wake Forest product has the necessary minor league time to become a free agent in the offseason unless the Braves reselect his contract.

August 14: The Braves announced today that outfielder Michael Harris II has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, as was expected. Outfielder Eli White was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot while right-hander Parker Dunshee was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.

Dunshee, 29, just had his contract selected last week, his first time on a big league roster in his career. In Thursday’s game, Charlie Morton had a rough outing, allowing eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Dunshee was sent in for some mop-up duty and ate up 2 1/3 innings but allowed five earned runs in the process. He was optioned to the minors the next day, meaning he’s currently sitting on an unsightly 19.29 earned run average in his very brief MLB career.

The trade deadline has now passed, so Atlanta will be putting Dunshee on waivers at some point in the coming days. Perhaps some club will be intrigued by his solid results in recent years, major league debut notwithstanding. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 112 minor league innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate in that time is a bit on the high side but he has struck out 29.4% of batters faced. He has a full slate of options and essentially no service time.

He was drafted by Oakland and was a somewhat notable starting pitching prospect a few years ago but his results tailed off as he hit the upper levels of the minors. He’s been in more of a relief role recently which seems to have led to better numbers and could perhaps lead to an upcoming waiver claim.

Atlanta will be hoping that the return of Harris is the spark that incites a turnaround. They have been dropping in the standings throughout the summer and are currently 63-56. That puts them four games back of the Padres and Diamondbacks, who are tied for the top two Wild Card spots in the National League. Atlanta still has the final spot but the Mets are just two games back and there are several other clubs within striking distance.

Much of Atlanta’s struggles have been related to injuries. Ronald Acuña Jr. is out for the year after yet another ACL tear, this time in his left knee. Ozzie Albies has been out of action for about a month due to a left wrist fracture and Harris has missed two months due to a strained left hamstring. That’s on top of several notable injuries to the pitching staff.

All that has led the club to turn to veteran fill-ins like Whit Merrifield, Ramón Laureano, Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall. The first two have been passable this year but the other two have struggled significantly. Rosario has already been released but Duvall is still clinging to his roster spot despite a .178/.240/.315 batting line. Among big league players with at least 300 plate appearances this year, the only one with a worse wRC+ than Duvall’s 53 is Rosario.

Though Duvall is still holding onto his roster spot, Harris should be able to upgrade the team simply by taking his playing time. Before landing on the IL, Harris was himself struggling, having hit .250/.295/.358 for a wRC+ of 80. But he was hitting .295/.334/.494 for a 124 wRC+ coming into the year and even the slumping version of Harris would still be far stronger than Duvall’s season so far.

Astros Sign Brandon Walter To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have signed left-hander Brandon Walter to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The lefty was released by the Red Sox earlier this month, freeing him up to sign this deal.

Walter, 27, was a 26th-round selection of the Sox in the 2019 draft. He made a brief professional debut at the Rookie ball level that year, but the minor leagues were then canceled in 2020 by the pandemic. In the years after that, he elevated his prospect stock with some encouraging results.

In 2021, he tossed 89 1/3 innings across the Single-A and High-A levels, allowing 2.92 earned runs per nine. He struck out 36.3% of batters faced while only giving out walks at a 5.5% clip and also got grounders on more than half of the balls in play he allowed. Baseball America ranked him #11 in Boston’s system going into 2022, noting that he spent the pandemic shutdown year overhauling his arsenal.

In 2022, he was bumped up to Double-A and made nine starts there before getting moved to Triple-A. A bulging cervical disk ended his season in June, after just two starts at the top minor league level. Nonetheless, he finished the year with a solid 3.59 ERA in 57 2/3 innings in his 11 starts over those two levels. He struck out 32.2% of batters faced, gave out walks just 3% of the time and continued to get lots of grounders.

In November of 2022, the Sox added him to their roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, then his results weren’t quite as impressive in 2023. He tossed 23 major league innings with a 6.26 ERA in that small sample, as well as a 15.1% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. He also added another 94 Triple-A frames with a 4.60 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 49.5% ground ball rate.

Here in 2024, he hasn’t yet pitched in an official game. He landed on the minor league injured list to start the year with a strained left rotator cuff, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive on X. The Sox needed a 40-man roster spot when acquiring righty Lucas Sims at the deadline and designated Walter for assignment. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so the Sox essentially had no choice but to release him.

At this point, it’s not publicly known what Walter’s health status is. Even if his shoulder has healed and he’s ready to take the mound again shortly, he’ll presumably need some ramp-up time in order to get back into game shape. That might make him more of a long-term play for Houston as opposed to immediate non-roster depth. But Walter has posted some intriguing numbers in recent years when healthy, so it’s understandable why they would be interested in bringing him aboard.

If he eventually gets his roster spot back, he will still have one option year remaining after this one, and there would be an easy case for a fourth option to be granted on account of him missing most or maybe all of 2024. He also has less than a year of service time, meaning he can be controlled for many years into the future.

Astros Release Aledmys Díaz

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Astros manager Joe Espada says that infielder/outfielder Aledmys Díaz has been released, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. That’s the corresponding move for the club’s selection of infielder Shay Whitcomb, which was previously reported.

The Astros signed Díaz to a minor league deal last month after he was released by the Athletics, adding him to their roster shortly thereafter. He got hardly any playing time at all in Houston, with four plate appearances in almost a month on the roster. He went 0-4 in those, striking out twice.

There was no real cost for the Astros in grabbing Díaz for that stint on the roster. The A’s are still on the hook for his salary after releasing him earlier this year. Oakland signed him to a two-year, $14.5MM deal going into 2023 and got very little in return for that investment. Díaz has hit .216/.265/.313 since the start of 2023 for a wRC+ of 60, which prompted them to cut him loose earlier this year.

He’ll return to the open market in the coming days and perhaps will garner attention based on his previous track record. With the A’s still on the hook for most of his salary, it would essentially be a no-cost pickup for any club that has interest.

From 2016 to 2022, Díaz hit .266/.320/.443 in 582 games between the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Astros. That production translated into a 105 wRC+, indicating he was 5% better than league average during that seven-year stretch. He did that while providing plenty of defensive versatility, lining up at all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners.

Angels Select Niko Kavadas, Designate Luis Guillorme

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4:05pm: The Angels have now made all of these moves official. Lopez and Kavadas have been selected, with Guillorme and Calhoun designated for assignment.

12:59pm: The Angels are calling up first baseman/designated hitter Niko Kavadas to make his major league debut, as first reported by Chuck Freeby. In order to make space for Kavadas on the roster, the Angels will designate infielder Luis Guillorme for assignment, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds. The Halos are also reportedly set to select the contract of infielder Jack Lopez and designate Willie Calhoun for assignment. All of those moves will be announced later today.

Kavadas, 25, was acquired from the Red Sox alongside three other minor leaguers in the trade sending reliever Luis Garcia to Boston prior to the deadline. He’s posted a combined .264/.400/.521 slash between the two organizations’ Triple-A affiliates this year, though it’s worth noting he’s struggled mightily with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, batting just .159/.229/.341 in 48 plate appearances.

An 11th-round pick by the Red Sox in 2021, Kavadas has clear plus power. He hit 26 homers in 515 plate appearances across three levels in 2022, belted 22 homers in just 480 plate appearances last year, and already has 19 long balls in 383 plate appearances this season.

That big-time power comes with a familiar red flag, however, in the form of strikeouts. Fans have seen plenty of three-true-outcomes sluggers over the years, and Kavadas embodies that approach to its fullest extent. A whopping 57% of his professional plate appearances have ended in either a homer, walk or strikeout. This season, he’s punched out in 33.9% of his plate appearances — and that’s actually an improvement over last year’s 35.8% mark. He’s also drawn a walk in a gaudy 16.2% of his trips to the plate.

The 6’1″, 235-pound Kavadas is a well below-average runner, and scouting reports peg his glovework at first base to be below-average as well. His huge power is his carrying tool, and whether he’s able to make enough contact to get to that power with regularity will determine the type of future he has. Players who whiff this much in the upper minors don’t tend to make enough contact to succeed in the big leagues, although Baseball America wrote in 2023 that Kavadas is an “intelligent hitter” with at least a chance to close some of the holes in his swing as he gains more experience.

Nolan Schanuel, the Angels’ 2023 first-rounder, skyrocketed to the majors less than two months after being drafted and has settled in as the primary first baseman. The 22-year-old Schanuel is in many ways the opposite of Kavadas: a first-base prospect with elite bat-to-ball skills but more a more suspect power profile.

After a slow start to the season, Schanuel is hitting .269/.382/.409 with nearly as many walks (14.6%) as strikeouts (15.2%) through his past 250 trips to the plate. He’s slumped lately, but the Angels presumably want to keep getting him exposure to big league pitching. That the promotion of Kavadas coincides with the DFA of Calhoun — who’s seen 60 games at designated hitter this year — suggests that Kavadas and his simultaneously thunderous and porous left-handed bat could get the bulk of the Angels’ DH reps down the stretch.

As for the 29-year-old Guillorme, he’s split the season between the Braves and Angels, batting a combined .218/.285/.290 in 138 plate appearances. He’s never been a big threat at the plate, but the versatile Guillorme offers strong infield defense across second base, shortstop and third base. He’s a career .254/.336/.327 hitter in 961 plate appearances — the vast majority of which came with the Mets from 2018-23.

With the trade deadline behind us, Guillorme will be placed on outright waivers or released. He’s earning just a $1.1MM base salary this season and has about $266K of that yet to be paid out. He’s versatile, experienced and affordable enough that another club might consider placing a claim. Guillorme has more than five years of service, meaning he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and retain his entire salary. As such, if he clears waivers he’ll surely become a free agent and look to latch on with a new club — likely on a minor league deal. The new team would only owe him the prorated minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster/injured list.

White Sox Place Dominic Leone On 60-Day Injured List With Right UCL Sprain

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The White Sox announced that they have reinstated right-hander Matt Foster from the 60-day injured list. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Dominic Leone was placed directly onto the 60-day IL with a sprain of his right ulnar collateral ligament. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times relayed on X prior to the official announcement that Foster would be activated and Leone would be going on the IL.

Foster, now 29, had a decent showing with the Sox from 2020 to 2022. In that time, he made 108 appearances for the Sox, allowing 4.39 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 23.7% of batters faced and gave out walks at an 8.2% clip.

Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in April of 2023, turning that into a totally lost season for him. He has been on the injured list since then and began a rehab assignment in June of this year. He has thrown 14 2/3 innings on the farm this year as part of that rehab with a 2.45 ERA, 30.8% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate.

Foster qualified for arbitration for the first time after the 2023 campaign. Though he was still rehabbing from his surgery, the Sox tendered him a contract. But due to his missed time, he was only able to get a raise to $750K, barely above this year’s $740K league minimum salary.

He’ll likely be looking at yet another modest raise in arbitration this winter, since he’s already missed most of the season. The Sox can get a look at him over the next few weeks and decide what role they want him to play on next year’s club.

As for Leone, it’s unclear exactly how serious this injury is, but it’s evidently enough to end his season. By going directly onto the 60-day IL, he can’t come back during the regular season. The Sox are trending towards one of the worst seasons in history, currently sporting a record of 29-93, so the playoffs obviously aren’t remotely a consideration.

The veteran signed a minor league deal with the Sox and cracked the Opening Day roster, but he’s spent most of the season on the IL. Lower back tightness put him there for a couple of weeks in May. Just a few days after returning from that issue, he went back to the IL with right elbow inflammation. That elbow issue put him out of action for more than two months and he only just returned in the first week of August.

Overall, he has tossed 19 innings on the year but won’t be able to add to that total. A UCL sprain doesn’t necessarily always lead to surgery, but even the non-surgical recovery path requires a lengthy layoff. If he does require some kind of UCL surgery, that will likely wipe out his 2025 season, given the year-plus recovery times with such significant operations. If he’s able to avoid the surgeon’s table, he will be looking to return for a 12th straight MLB season. He has 427 career appearances with a 3.94 ERA.

Rockies Release Elias Diaz, Promote Drew Romo

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3:10pm: The Rockies announced that Diaz has been given his unconditional release. He’s a free agent who can sign with any club at any point. Romo’s contract has indeed been selected from Triple-A Albuquerque in his place.

Colorado also reinstated left-hander Lucas Gilbreath from the 60-day injured list. A spot on the 40-man roster was already cleared by yesterday’s outright of Josh Rogers. Gilbreath has been out since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2023.

1:55pm: In place of Diaz, the Rockies are expected to select the contract of catching prospect Drew Romo, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. He’ll presumably slot into the Rockies’ primary catching role down the stretch and audition for a potential long-term gig behind the plate in Denver.

1:45pm: The Rockies are releasing catcher Elias Diaz, whom they placed on outright waivers earlier this week, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Once he’s cleared release waivers, he’ll be free to sign with any club. The new team would only owe Diaz the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster or injured list. The Rockies will be on the hook for the remainder of this season’s $6MM salary.

That Diaz is slated to be released is an indicator that no other club was willing to take on his remaining $1.45MM salary (plus the $50K fee for placing a waiver claim). Colorado could’ve simply kept Diaz on the roster and attempted to waive him again later this month when he was owed less money, but it seems they’ll instead part ways with the veteran backstop entirely, granting him extra time to settle in with a contending club down the stretch. Diaz had been in the final season of a three-year, $14.5MM contract with the Rockies and is a free agent at season’s end anyhow, so the move to release him appears to primarily be about affording him the ability to latch on with a contending club while also clearing time for a look at Romo.

Releasing Diaz now will naturally raise questions as to why the Rockies didn’t move Diaz for even a modest return at last month’s trade deadline. It’s a fair gripe on the surface, although it stands to reason that if Diaz went unclaimed when he’d cost other teams around $1.5MM in total, there probably wasn’t a robust trade market for him when he was owed more money and the Rockies were seeking prospect value in return.

It’s still plenty arguable that the Rox should’ve sold high on him at last year’s trade deadline or perhaps in the offseason, but the Rox instead added some modest pieces and entered this year with visions of a more competitive club than they’ve ultimately fielded.

Diaz, 33, is hitting .270/.315/.378 on the season. That’s a solid-looking line, particularly for a catcher, though metrics like wRC+ (80) and OPS+ (88) feel he’s been below-average at the plate after adjusting for the Rockies’ hitter-friendly home environment. Either of those marks is passable for a backstop with solid defensive grades, however, and Diaz is just that. He’s delivered markedly improved framing grades in 2024 and been credited with plus marks in Defensive Runs Saved (5) and Outs Above Average (5).

Diaz has never been a plus hitter outside of a strong 2018 showing with the Pirates, but he owns a .254/.306/.406 line over the past four seasons, during which he’s averaged 17 homers per 162 games played. He’s not an elite catcher but is a serviceable option who’s had his share of big league success and experience. At the very least, he’s an upgrade over the backup option for many postseason hopefuls. And as long as he signs with a new club on or before Aug. 31, he’ll be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster.

As for the 22-year-old Romo, he was the No. 35 overall pick by the Rockies back in 2020 and ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects as recently as the 2022-23 offseason. He’s considered to be a glove-first catcher but has shown more offense in the upper minors across the past two seasons, including a quality .297/.339/.499 batting line in a very hitter-friendly Albuquerque setting this season (103 wRC+).

Scouting reports at FanGraphs, Baseball America and other outlets praise the switch-hitting Romo as a plus defender with a plus arm but well below-average power. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen noted that Romo had some uncharacteristic throwing issues last year (19% caught-stealing rate), but he’s bounced back in a big way with a heartier 29% rate in 2024.

With Diaz released and fellow backstop Jacob Stallings also playing on an expiring contract, Romo ought to be given a full run as the team’s starting catcher. Colorado doesn’t have any other near-ready catching prospects — Hunter Goodman can catch some, but they’ve used him more in the outfield — and certainly doesn’t have another one with Romo’s defensive chops.

Romo and Goodman could potentially shoulder the workload behind the plate down the stretch, depending on what comes of Stallings, who’s hitting .266/.367/.457 in 216 plate appearances while playing on a one-year, $2MM contract. Speculatively speaking, if the Rox are comfortable with Goodman collecting more playing time behind the plate, they could make a similar move with Stallings to the one they’ve made with Diaz.

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