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Rockies Place Elias Diaz On Waivers

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The Rockies placed veteran catcher Elias Díaz on waivers this afternoon, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The process will be resolved on Friday. Díaz is eligible to play while he’s on waivers, though that’s immaterial with Colorado having an off day tomorrow.

It’s possible but by no means guaranteed that this marks the end of his four-plus year stint in Denver. Waivers are irrevocable, so the Rockies cannot retract the placement if another team makes a claim. If he goes unclaimed, the Rox could simply retain him on the MLB roster for the last six weeks of the season.

Colorado reportedly expressed openness to moving Díaz before the trade deadline. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote at the time that the Rox weren’t planning to explore another extension with the impending free agent. Since the Rox are out of playoff contention, there was little reason for them not to try to get some kind of young talent in return. Rosenthal writes that the Rockies didn’t find any team with significant interest in a trade, though, and Colorado ultimately held him past the deadline.

There’s no longer any chance for the Rockies to get anything in return for Díaz. MLB did away with the old August revocable waiver trade system back in 2019. Any player who has been on a 40-man roster during the season cannot be traded after the deadline. The only benefit to Colorado in placing Díaz on waivers is possible cost savings.

The 33-year-old catcher is playing this year on a $6MM salary. There’ll be a little over $1.4MM to be paid out between Friday and the end of the season. A claiming team would take that entire sum off Colorado’s books. Teams cannot negotiate with the Rockies to pay down a portion of the remaining money. A waiver acquisition is an all or nothing move. Díaz would be eligible for postseason play if another club put in a claim since he’d be in their organization before the start of September.

Díaz had the best season of his career in 2023. He connected on 14 homers with a .267/.316/.409 slash line over a career-high 526 plate appearances. Díaz popped another home run in the All-Star Game and collected the Midsummer Classic’s MVP award. His offensive production has taken a step back this season, as he’s hitting .270/.315/.378 over 84 contests. That’s still reasonable production for a #2 catcher, and Díaz has had a strong year defensively. He has cut down nearly 28% of stolen base attempts and has slightly above-average pitch framing grades from Statcast.

Clubs tend to be reluctant to acquire catchers midseason — Danny Jansen and Carson Kelly were the only backstops traded at the deadline — because of the challenge of quickly learning a new pitching staff’s strengths and weaknesses. Still, Díaz’s production this season would be an upgrade on what some teams have gotten out of their backup options.

Waiver priority is inverse order of the standings without regard to American or National League. The White Sox have the top priority, followed by the Marlins. Neither team is going to put in a claim, since there’s no incentive for them to take on the salary of an impending free agent.

The Cubs, who are 5.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the NL, are relying on a catching tandem of Miguel Amaya and Christian Bethancourt. Public estimates have them right on the border of the luxury tax threshold, though, and it’s hard to believe they’d claim Díaz for a very long shot playoff push if doing so moved them past that line. The Rays have fallen 6.5 back of a Wild Card spot and might not consider a claim worthwhile. The Mariners, Padres and Diamondbacks are a little further down the waiver order but could be potential fits.

A claim would allow Díaz to participate in a playoff race while shaving a bit of money from Colorado’s books. It’d presumably set the stage for the Rox to take their first look at prospect Drew Romo, whom they view as the catcher of the future. They’ll need to add Romo to the 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft by next offseason. The 35th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Romo is hitting .297/.339/.499 this year with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Rockies Listening To Trade Offers On Elias Diaz

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The Rockies will consider trade offers on catcher Elias Díaz over the next few weeks, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The veteran should slot in behind Danny Jansen as a rental target for contenders seeking catching help.

Impending free agents on last-place teams are frequently trade candidates. Díaz fits the bill, but the Rockies haven’t always been eager to trade rentals even after falling out of contention. Colorado held Trevor Story and Jon Gray at the deadline three years ago. They extended Daniel Bard rather than trading him at the 2022 deadline. The Rox were more aggressive in moving rentals last year, although they still held onto lefty reliever Brent Suter only to watch him walk in free agency.

It’s less likely they’ll do so with Díaz. Heyman reports that the team declined to engage in extension discussions with the 33-year-old catcher. If Colorado isn’t interested in keeping him beyond this season, they’re better off taking the best offer on the table by July 30. Díaz isn’t a qualifying offer candidate, so they wouldn’t get any compensation if they let him depart via free agency.

While the return wouldn’t be huge, Díaz has probably played well enough to net Colorado a mid-level prospect or two. He has career marks in batting average (.296) and on-base percentage (.340). Díaz’s overall .296/.340/.417 batting line is around league average after accounting for Coors Field, as measured by wRC+. That’s more than adequate for a catcher.

An acquiring team probably wouldn’t expect Díaz to match that level of production down the stretch. He’s hitting .347 on balls in play, a mark he’ll have a tough time maintaining. Díaz doesn’t hit the ball especially hard and isn’t going to beat out many infield hits. There’s room for regression while remaining a passable hitter at the position. Catchers around the league are hitting .236/.300/.381 this season.

Perhaps more importantly, Díaz has dramatically improved his defensive grades. For most of his career, the Venezuela native has rated as a subpar pitch framer. That’s not the case in 2024, as Statcast has lauded his receiving skills in more than 400 innings. Díaz has always had a strong arm and been very effective at controlling the running game. He’s doing so again, cutting down 14 of 45 stolen base attempts (31.1%). That’s well better than the 22.1% league average.

Díaz is in the final season of a three-year extension that he signed during the 2021-22 offseason. He’s playing on a $6MM salary. There’s a little less than $2.6MM remaining on that tab. That’ll be down to around $2MM by the deadline. Díaz’s contract shouldn’t be too much of an impediment to a trade. Some teams are reluctant to trade for catchers midseason because of the challenges of quickly adjusting to a new pitching staff, but Díaz could work as part of a timeshare with an in-house catcher.

The Cubs and Rays are fringe contenders but could look for catching help if they stick in the playoff mix. Díaz’s former team in Pittsburgh hasn’t gotten much from the position, while the Mariners may look for a better backup behind Cal Raleigh to keep Mitch Garver working primarily at designated hitter.

Díaz and Jacob Stallings are the only true catchers on Colorado’s 40-man roster (though Hunter Goodman can play there in a pinch). They’re each impending free agents, and Stallings has also played well enough to be viable trade candidate.

A trade of one or both veterans could open some late-season reps for Drew Romo. The 35th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Romo is hitting .300/.331/.494 in 66 games with Albuquerque. Colorado will need to select his contract by November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They could take the final few weeks of the regular season to give the 22-year-old his first look against MLB arms.

Rockies Designate Elehuris Montero, Reinstate Elias Diaz From 10-Day IL

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The Rockies announced that first baseman Elehuris Montero has been designated for assignment.  The move opens space for the return of catcher Elias Diaz, who has been activated from the 10-day injured list after missing just short of three weeks due to a strained left calf.

Montero was one of five players Colorado obtained from the Cardinals in the Nolan Arenado trade in February 2021, and was arguably the highest-profile name of the group, considering how Montero drew some top-100 prospect buzz from Baseball America prior to the 2019 season.  His star has already started to dim after a lackluster showing at Double-A ball in 2019, and he missed a year of development when the pandemic shut down the 2020 minor league season, yet Montero emerged from that hiatus with a big performance at Triple-A Albuquerque in 2021.

More minor league success in 2022 paved the way for Montero’s MLB debut that season, but the production simply hasn’t come over Montero’s three seasons in Colorado.  After hitting .239/.283/.428 over 492 plate appearances in 2022-23, Montero’s numbers have cratered even further this year, as he has only a .206/.268/.305 slash line in 246 PA.  Among all players with at least 240 plate appearances in 2024, Montero ranks last in all of baseball in both wRC+ (48) and fWAR (-1.8).

Even though the Montero has improved his walk rate and drastically cut back on the strikeouts that plagued him over his first two big league seasons, he is still making contact at a below-average rate.  Montero also doesn’t provide much value on the basepaths or in the field, as his glovework has been subpar as both a third baseman and first baseman.

Kris Bryant’s injuries opened the door for Montero to receive pretty regular playing time at first base this season, but this might have essentially served as his last chance to prove himself as a part of the Rockies’ future.  Michael Toglia has already seemingly moved into the starting first base job, and with Charlie Blackmon and now Diaz both back from the IL, the roster was getting too crowded for the Rox to keep giving at-bats to a player going through such extreme struggles as Montero.

Since Montero is out of minor league options, however, a new team would have to either give Montero playing time at the big league level, or else DFA him again in order to potentially send him to Triple-A.  If Montero clears waivers, the Rockies might part ways entirely with a release, or option him to Triple-A after outrighting him off the 40-man roster.

Diaz was hitting .303/.352/.439 with five home runs in 216 PA at the time of his injury, and it is good news that the catcher is able to return in relatively short order.  Since Diaz is a free agent after the season, he stands out as a logical candidate to be moved at the trade deadline, though the Rox could have designs on trying to sign the catcher to another extension.

Latest On Rockies’ Deadline Outlook

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The Rockies enter this year’s trade deadline season in a familiar place. They’re sitting at the bottom of the NL West, 20.5 games out of first place and even a whopping nine games out of fourth place. Their 27-51 record has dipped behind the Marlins for the worst in the National League. Only the White Sox (21-58) have a worse record among MLB teams. They’re staring up at a 12-game deficit in the Wild Card race. Colorado isn’t mathematically eliminated from the postseason yet, of course, but the final nail on any faint playoff aspirations they may have harbored has long since been driven into the coffin.

Normally, this would set up a team to consider itself a pure seller at the deadline. The Rockies surely view themselves in that light to an extent, but not to the same extent as onlookers might expect. Reports more than a month ago indicated the team was quite unlikely to trade third baseman Ryan McMahon, for instance, and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post doubles down on that sentiment in his latest look at the Rockies and the trade deadline, writing that there’s “nearly zero” chance McMahon will move. Specifically, he lists McMahon as a favorite of owner Dick Monfort, suggesting that even if GM Bill Schmidt and his crew wanted to field offers on the potential All-Star infielder, a deal wouldn’t necessarily be in the cards.

On a similar note, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Rockies have yet to hold any trade discussions surrounding right-hander Cal Quantrill. The team’s decision to buy low on the righty after the Guardians designated him for assignment last November — effectively a non-tender — has paid off in spades. Quantrill is sporting a 3.50 ERA in 90 innings out of manager Bud Black’s rotation. His 17% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate are both worse than average, but Quantrill’s 46.9% grounder rate is a career-best mark. His move to Coors Field also hasn’t dampened his characteristic knack for keeping the ball in the yard; Quantrill’s 0.90 HR/9 mark is not only better than the 1.06 mark he carried into the season — it’s a career-best rate for the former No. 8 overall draft pick.

Quantrill’s success is one of the best developments for the Rox this season, but he’s also not far from free agency. The righty is being paid $6.55MM in 2024 and has just one year of team control remaining. He could command around $10MM in arbitration this winter and would be a free agent following the 2025 season. Given his 2024 rebound, dwindling club control and mounting price tag, that would make him a logical trade candidate for most clubs.

The Rockies, however, have a history of extending just this sort of veteran. They’ve done so with Daniel Bard, C.J. Cron and Elias Diaz when all had previously stood as logical deadline trade candidates. Colorado has been particularly aggressive in extending pitchers, locking up Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez to long-term deals. Of those three starting pitcher extensions, only the Marquez pact worked out in their favor. The Rockies weren’t successful in completing an extension with Jon Gray but still held onto him at the deadline three years ago (despite trade interest) in hopes of working out a long-term deal.

While there’s no firm word yet that the Rockies have approached or plan to approach Quantrill about an extension, it’s a logical conclusion to draw based both on their operating history and the lack of trade talks to date. Add in that Quantrill has spoken previously about being motivated by pitching at Coors Field, and it’s even easier to see Rockies brass being warm to the idea.

Indeed, Saunders writes in that same weekend piece that both Quantrill and teammate Austin Gomber could be candidates for such a deal. Gomber, like Quantrill, is enjoying a rebound campaign and is arbitration-eligible through the 2025 season. The 30-year-old southpaw has a spottier track record and lesser results but also a lower price tag (both on a contract and in a trade) as a result. It bears emphasizing that there’s no firm indication yet that the Rockies will steadfastly refuse to listen to offers on either pitcher, but history tells us it’s less than likely.

All of that raises the question as to which players the Rockies might actually consider moving. Saunders notes that one of Elias Diaz or Jacob Stallings is a fair bet to change hands, as is the case with reliever Jalen Beeks and outfielder Jake Cave. Diaz, Stallings and Beeks can become free agents this winter. Cave is controlled through 2025.

The two veteran catchers are having strong years at the plate — Diaz is hitting .303/.352/.439 (107 wRC+), Stallings is at .293/.371/.466 (123 wRC+) — though Diaz is currently on the shelf with a hamstring injury. Diaz is earning $6MM to Stallings’ $1.5MM. Stallings once graded as one of the game’s premier defensive catchers, but his glovework has deteriorated a bit in recent years and it’s actually Diaz who draws more favorable marks at this point.

Beeks, 30, has stepped up as the de facto closer in Black’s bullpen after much of the relief corps has struggled at large. He’s pitched to a 3.76 ERA and saved six games in 38 1/3 innings but has done so with a subpar strikeout and walk rates (18.8% and 10%, respectively). Beeks has a $1.675MM salary that’s plenty affordable and a nice track record outside of last year’s anomalous 5.95 ERA, but it’s unlikely other clubs would look at him as an option for the same type of high-leverage role he’s currently holding down for the Rockies. The 31-year-old Cave, meanwhile, is a career backup who’s hitting .258/.312/.336 (68 wRC+). He can play all three outfield spots and first base, but he hasn’t turned in even an average offensive season since 2019 with the Twins. It’s doubtful he’d fetch much in a swap, but Beeks could draw a marginal prospect from a club seeking left-handed bullpen help.

Rockies Place Elias Diaz On Injured List

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The Rockies announced they’ve placed catcher Elias Díaz on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 11, due to a strained left calf. Colorado reinstated Nolan Jones from the IL in a corresponding transaction.

It’s not clear how long Díaz is expected to be out of action. His injury won’t have much of an effect on the standings with Colorado sitting at the bottom of the NL West. An extended absence could have some implications for the trade deadline, though. Díaz has played well enough to be a rather straightforward deadline trade candidate. Last year’s All-Star Game MVP is hitting .303/.352/.439 across 216 plate appearances.

Díaz is not likely to maintain a .350 batting average on balls in play. Yet he doesn’t need to hit .300 to be a capable hitter for teams looking to upgrade behind the plate. He’s performing well both at and away from Coors Field and has a modest 17.6% strikeout rate. Díaz has also fared well on the other side of the ball, throwing out 11 of 37 (29.7%) attempted basestealers. While pitch framing metrics have been down on his receiving skills for most of his career, Díaz has gotten plus grades in that regard in 2024.

The Rockies are paying Díaz a $6MM salary in the final season of a three-year extension. Unless Colorado extends him again in the next couple months, he’ll hit free agency next winter. Teams like the Cubs, Rays and Guardians could look for catching help around the deadline. The Phillies lost J.T. Realmuto for a month after he underwent meniscus surgery. Philadelphia doesn’t need to make a significant catching acquisition at the moment, but any kind of delay in Realmuto’s rehab process could change that calculus. The Rox wouldn’t get a huge trade return, but a healthy Díaz would be the best rental backstop available if the Blue Jays hold Danny Jansen.

Jacob Stallings, himself a possible deadline candidate for a contender that needs a backup catcher, will get the majority of the playing time with Díaz out. Colorado plans to use Hunter Goodman as their #2 option, tweets Patrick Lyons. Goodman only has one major league start behind the dish. He was a catcher at the University of Memphis and has started 73 games there in parts of four minor league campaigns. Questions about his glove have pushed him primarily to first base or the corner outfield.

Black: Rockies Could Be “More Active” On Summer Trade Market

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At 36-58, the Rockies sit at the bottom of the National League and have MLB’s third-worst record overall, leading only the A’s and Royals. While Colorado has developed a reputation for hanging onto potential trade candidates at the deadline instead of moving them at peak value, manager Bud Black said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that the Rox will likely be more active in 2023 (audio link).

“I think there’s probably more potential this year,” Black told Power Alley hosts Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin. “…This year is the year where, possibly, you could see more movement out of us. With the players that we have, and what we have going on in the second half of this year, and going into next year and the years beyond, it could make more sense to be a little bit more active.”

Unfortunately for the Rockies, a number of their would-be trade chips are on the injured list — many with serious injuries. German Marquez won’t pitch again this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has a club option for next season, but that’ll likely be declined, as his recovery will span into next summer. Righty Antonio Senzatela is also set for Tommy John surgery, and lefty Kyle Freeland is on the IL with a subluxation in his non-throwing shoulder. Lefty reliever Brent Suter is a rental in the midst of a strong season, but he’s been out since late June with an oblique strain.

Others on the roster are sensible trade candidates from a contractual standpoint but aren’t performing well enough to maximize their value. Reliever Pierce Johnson is on a one-year, $5MM deal and is a natural candidate to change teams, but he’s also toting a grim 6.14 ERA and 13.2% walk rate. Daniel Bard, whom the Rockies extended in lieu of a trade last summer, has spent time on the injured list with anxiety issues. He’s seen a three mile per hour drop in velocity and has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. C.J. Cron and Jurickson Profar are both free agents at season’s end, but both have played below replacement level in 2023.

The Rox do have a handful of interesting names to peddle. Veterans Randal Grichuk and Brad Hand are both impending free agents at season’s end and could draw interest. Hand was enjoying a strong rebound season before being tagged for seven runs across three recent appearances, sending his ERA ballooning up to 4.99. He’s still an affordable lefty with a 26.1% strikeout rate. If the Rockies aren’t afraid of dealing controllable relievers — particularly a pair who are of the late-blooming variety — both Justin Lawrence and Jake Bird should generate interest.

Catcher Elias Diaz, a first-time All-Star in 2023, is perhaps the team’s most appealing trade candidate, as I explored at greater length last week. Diaz is signed affordably through next season, and it’s unlikely Colorado will be in contention by the time his three-year, $14.5MM deal expires at the end of the 2024 campaign. There’s been no indication the Rockies would entertain offers on third baseman Ryan McMahon — at least not yet — but he’s signed through the 2027 season and is again playing superlative hot corner defense with solid offensive contributions as well (albeit in spite of a career-worst 31% strikeout rate that is an obvious red flag).

There’s sure to be some degree of frustration among Rockies fans to hear these types of comments in 2023 — when the Rockies have their worst roster in years — rather than in recent non-contending seasons. The Rockies, for instance, declined to trade either Trevor Story or Jon Gray when both were in their final seasons of club control. They received a compensatory draft pick when Story declined a qualifying offer but chose not to even make a QO to Gray, losing him with no compensation. GM Bill Schmidt recently suggested to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that he simply didn’t receive “legitimate” offers.

It was a similar story last summer with Bard, who was in the middle of a dominant season and viewed as one of the top trade candidates on the market. Rather than trade the 37-year-old flamethrower a couple months ahead of him reaching the open market, Colorado inked him to a two-year, $19MM extension that has quickly gone south. The Rockies also held onto Cron at the ’21 deadline and later extended him on a two-year deal that looked good this time last summer. Again, however, they hung onto Cron and, as with Bard, have seen his trade value plummet.

Time will tell how aggressive the Rockies will be and how much interest the healthy players on their roster will draw. But it’s abundantly clear the team is in need of some changes. Colorado is 19th in the Majors with 411 runs scored and 24th with 89 total home runs. The Rockies rank 13th in MLB with a .253 batting average but are 22nd with a .313 OBP and 18th with a .403 slugging percentage.

The pitching has been even worse. Injuries have surely contributed, but the Rockies’ staff looked highly questionable even coming into the season. To this point, Colorado starters have baseball’s worst combined ERA (6.44), and their bullpen ranks 27th with a 4.81 mark. Colorado pitchers have MLB’s worst strikeout rate (18.3%) and fifth-highest walk rate (9.7%). Their 1.51 HR/9 mark is the worst in baseball as well.

The Rockies Should Make Their Catcher Available At The Trade Deadline

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There’s no secret to the fact that the Rockies enter the 2023 trade deadline in position to be sellers. General manager Bill Schmidt already told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post last week that he’s received particularly high levels of interest in his veteran relievers. Within that same interview, Schmidt noted that he’d entertain offers on position players, but it would take a “legitimate” offer on someone like catcher Elias Diaz, who’s signed through the 2024 season, for the Rox to consider such a move.

It’s understandable for any baseball operations leader to take that stance. Any general manager or president of baseball ops is going to insist on a quality return — particularly for a player with multiple seasons of affordable control — unless ownership is simply mandating that they slash payroll. That’s clearly not the case in Colorado, where owner Dick Monfort annually broadcasts optimism about his team’s chances and is generally willing to spend (to varying extents) in free agency and via extensions for in-house players.

Diaz, 32, is a first-time All-Star this season, thanks largely to a .277/.328/.435 batting line. He’s smacked nine homers and added 15 doubles and a triple while walking at a 7.2% clip against a 21.3% strikeout rate. It’s not exactly elite production; wRC+ pegs him nine percent below average after weighting for his home park, and OPS+ has him four percent below average. However, relative to other catchers throughout the league, Diaz has been quite productive. The average catcher in 2023 is hitting .233/.300/.384. Even when adjusting for home park and league run-scoring environment, catchers have rated 13% worse than average at the plate, by measure of wRC+. In that regard, Diaz has been an above-average hitter relative to his position.

Of course, that’s just one season. Diaz’s offense has been a roller coaster throughout his career, peaking with a .286/.339/.452 slash (114 wRC+) in a much more pitcher-friendly Pittsburgh setting back in 2018 but at times bottoming out as it did just last year, when he hit .228/.281/.368 despite playing half his games at Coors Field. He’s had some good fortune on balls in play this year, with a .327 BABIP that’s about 50 points higher than the career .274 mark he carried into the season. There’s no major uptick in quality of contact that’s driven that change, either; Diaz averaged 88.4 mph off the bat in 2022 with a 39.3% hard-hit rate and is at 88.3 mph and 40.1% in those respective areas this year. It’s possible his bat will take a step back in the season’s second half, although even if it does, it shouldn’t wilt to last year’s surprisingly anemic levels.

Defensively, Diaz is a bit of a mixed bag. Framing metrics have universally panned Diaz’s work over the past two seasons, but he was above-average as recently as 2021. In terms of pitch blocking and throwing, Diaz is one of the game’s best. Dating back to 2021, he ranks eighth among all big league catchers in Statcast’s new Blocks Above Average metric, trailing only a handful of elite defenders (Austin Hedges, Sean Murphy, Jose Trevino, Jacob Stallings, J.T. Realmuto, Yan Gomes, Adley Rutschman).

It’s a similar story with Diaz’s throwing; he regularly boasts better-than-average pop times, and as recently as 2021 he paced the NL with a gaudy 42% caught-stealing rate. He’s at 29% this year, which is far better than it would’ve sounded in previous years, as the new rule changes in 2023 have contributed to a league-wide drop in caught-stealing numbers. The league average typically sat around 25% in seasons past, but it’s down to 20% this year. Statcast pegs Diaz as third-best in MLB with its Caught-Stealing Above Average metric (which strives to gauge throws on a case-by-case basis rather than treating all stolen base scenarios as equal).

There’s also Diaz’s contract to consider. He signed a three-year, $14.5MM extension with the Rockies a couple years ago, buying out his final arbitration season and first two free-agent years. He’s in the second year of that contract right now, earning a reasonable $5.5MM salary with a $6MM salary owed to him in 2024. It’s an affordable enough contract that any club could stomach it.

Relative to open-market prices, Diaz’s annual salary lines up with the type of money that steady mid-30s veterans or younger bounceback options might typically find. For context, Omar Narvaez signed a two-year, $15MM contract with an opt-out/player option this offseason despite having a down year in 2022. Mike Zunino signed a one-year, $6MM deal while seeking a rebound in Cleveland. The previously mentioned Hedges commanded a $5MM guarantee due solely to his defense. Diaz may not be an unmitigated bargain, but he’s at the very least a fairly priced backup — arguably one with some surplus value on his deal.

In general, it’s been a poor year for catchers throughout the league. Only 11 teams have received a wRC+ mark better than Diaz’s 91 from their catchers in 2023. Contenders and playoff hopefuls like the Rays, Astros, Reds, Marlins, Padres and Guardians have all received awful offensive production behind the plate. Speculatively speaking, Diaz could make sense for any of the bunch. That doesn’t mean they’ll all have interest, of course, but there ought to be a market for the veteran.

The Rockies, meanwhile, once again find themselves without a viable path to the postseason. Schmidt has voiced an understandable desire to add pitching to his system, and it stands to reason that there are clubs who might be willing to part with some arms in order to pry loose a catcher who could help not just for the current postseason push but also solidify the position next year. Colorado’s top catching prospect, Drew Romo, isn’t having a particularly strong season in Double-A this year but could conceivably be up in 2024 nonetheless. In the meantime, there’s little harm for a last-place club to let a journeyman like current backup Austin Wynns soak up the majority of starts in the season’s final couple months. He’s a sound defender who posted decent offensive production as recently as 2022. As far as 2024 is concerned, the Rox could always sign a veteran to a one-year deal this winter if need be.

Schmidt has pushed back against the notion of tearing everything down and trotting a Triple-A team out, citing the game’s integrity. That’s a commendable tack, and it provides some context for the type of offers he’d need to part with Diaz and other veterans. Diaz won’t simply be given away for the best offer, nor should he. It also bears pointing out that midseason trades of catchers can be difficult to pull off; acquiring a backstop in the midst of a playoff push and asking him to learn a new pitching staff on the fly is no easy task.

If no serious offers present themselves for Diaz, so be it. The Rockies can always listen in the offseason or hope for better results on a team scale in 2024. However, the Rox also have a history of hanging onto players who appear to be obvious trade candidates, either extending them (e.g Daniel Bard, C.J. Cron, arguably Diaz himself) or simply letting them walk in free agency (e.g Jon Gray, Trevor Story). Schmidt contended to Saunders that he simply didn’t receive “legitimate” offers for players like Gray and Story, and that’s certainly possible. Story, in particular, at least netted the Rox a draft pick after rejecting a qualifying offer.

Diaz won’t be a QO candidate post-’24, however, and his trade value is very arguably at its apex. He’s a first-time All-Star with strong throwing/blocking skills, enough offense for his position and an affordable contract. This summer is the best time to extract a quality return for him. Colorado shouldn’t simply trade him for a handful of magic beans, but setting too high an asking price and holding onto him runs the risk of again losing a quality player for little to no return at a time when the organization as a whole is hungry for quality minor league talent.

Schmidt: Rockies’ Relievers Drawing Trade Interest

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The Rockies enter deadline season at the bottom of the NL West. They’re positioned to listen to trade offers on veteran players, particularly those whose contracts are expiring at season’s end.

General manager Bill Schmidt discussed the team’s outlook with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post in a piece Rockies’ fans will want to read in full. The baseball operations leader told Saunders the club is getting the most interest in some of its veteran relievers. Schmidt declined to specify which players. However, Saunders reports that left-hander Brent Suter is drawing the most attention, with righty Pierce Johnson and southpaw Brad Hand also generating some interest.

All three players are fairly straightforward trade candidates. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last week the Rox were taking offers on their impending free agents. Johnson and Suter are ticketed for free agency. Hand is controllable via $7MM club option, but that price point might be a bit beyond Colorado’s comfort zone. If the Rockies did trade him, that provision would convert to a mutual option.

Suter, claimed off waivers from the Brewers last offseason, is playing this season on a $3MM arbitration salary. The 33-year-old carries an excellent 2.81 ERA across 41 2/3 innings. He’s only striking out 19.2% of batters faced on a modest 8.4% swinging strike percentage. Yet he’s long shown excellent control and an ability to stay off barrels, allowing him to keep his ERA below 4.00 in each of the last four seasons.

His trade candidacy could be complicated by his health with less than a month until the August 1 deadline. Suter is currently on the 15-day injured list after straining his left oblique in late June. It’s unclear how long he’ll be out of action, although Saunders writes that he completed a 20-pitch bullpen session yesterday.

Of course, the Rockies have shown a willingness to operate outside the norm for deadline sellers. Colorado has resisted trading some impending free agents in past seasons when they’ve been well out of contention. Players like C.J. Cron, Elias Díaz and Daniel Bard were signed to multi-year extensions. Trevor Story and Jon Gray walked in free agency, with no compensation in Gray’s case since Colorado declined to make a qualifying offer.

Schmidt suggested the organization would take a similar approach this summer. “We are going to listen on guys, but people have to remember that teams have to want your players, too. … You’re not going to run out a Triple-A team out there — for the integrity of the game,” he told Saunders. “But if there is interest in our players and we think it’s a good decision for our organization, long-term, then we will make considerations.” He said the club would ideally bring back minor league pitching in deadline deals; Colorado’s one move thus far saw them ship out Mike Moustakas for High-A righty Connor Van Scoyoc.

It’s possible the Rockies retain Suter even if he’s healthy enough to draw continued interest at the end of the month. Schmidt implied they could look into an extension, saying he “could see him, going forward in the next year or two, giving us veteran experience in our bullpen.”

The GM also expressed openness to listening on the team’s veteran position players, although Saunders unsurprisingly suggests there’s been less interest in the bulk of that group. Cron, Randal Grichuk and Jurickson Profar are all impending free agents. None has played especially well in 2023. Cron and Grichuk missed notable chunks of time with early-season injuries; Profar has been healthy but stumbled to a .246/.328/.382 line despite playing in the sport’s most hitter-friendly home venue.

Charlie Blackmon is also in the final season of his deal. He has never seemed a particularly plausible trade candidate for myriad reasons. The veteran has full no-trade rights as a career-long Rockie with over 10 years of MLB service. He’s making $15MM this year and is likely to be on the injured list into August after suffering a right hand fracture last month. Demand figures to be minimal, but Schmidt said he’d discuss potential trade scenarios with Blackmon if they arose. The GM noted there’s interest on the club’s part in bringing him back for a 14th season if Blackmon wants to continue playing.

Díaz might be the most interesting Colorado trade candidate on the position player side. Schmidt tells Saunders he’s willing to listen to “legitimate” offers on the first-time All-Star, who’s amidst arguably the best season of his career. The 32-year-old backstop is hitting .279/.331/.442 with nine homers through 296 trips to the dish. He’s making $5.5MM this season and under contract for $6MM next year. Given that extra season of club control, it seems Colorado is prepared to hold to a high asking price on the veteran.

MLB Announces 2023 All-Star Rosters

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The starters for the 2023 All-Star Game were already announced earlier this week, and today the league revealed the reserve selections and the pitching staffs for the National League and American League teams.  Fan balloting determined the game’s starters, while the reserves and pitchers were picked by a combination of the player ballot and selections from the league office.

This won’t be the final list of players involved, as some more substitutions will be announced later for players who are injured or who have opted not to participate.  Every team must have at least one player represented at the Midsummer Classic, and the starting pitchers for the game will be announced on July 10.

Of note, Shohei Ohtani will be in the game as both a DH and as a pitcher for the third consecutive season.  The Braves led all teams with eight All-Stars, while the Rangers weren’t far behind with six players chosen.  This year’s All-Star Game takes place in Seattle on July 11.

National League

American League

Rockies Sign Jorge Alfaro To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have signed catcher Jorge Alfaro to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

It’s sort of a birthday present for Alfaro, who turns 30 on Sunday. He began the season on a minor league deal with the Red Sox and was assigned to Triple-A Worcester, where he put up an excellent line of .320/.366/.520 through 43 games. That production amounted to a 119 wRC+, indicating he was 19% better than league average.

He had the ability to opt out of that contract on June 1 and July 1 and exercised the first of those opt-outs, hardly a surprise given his hot start to the year. The Red Sox could have prevented Alfaro from getting away by giving him a spot on their roster but decided to stick with their tandem of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, allowing Alfaro to return to the open market.

Alfaro now finds a new home with the Rockies, an organization that has some question marks in its catching corps. Elias Díaz is the club’s primary backstop and he is having a solid season, hitting .299/.355/.459 for a wRC+ of 107. He’s also been worth three Defensive Runs Saved on defense. However, he was removed from today’s game after he was hit in the mask by a foul ball. “We were cautionary taking him out, based on a blow last night and that one today,” manager Bud Black told Patrick Lyons of DNVR. “I think it made sense to take him out. (Trainer Keith Duggar) is confident that he’s going to be fine. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

The club’s backup is Austin Wynns, who is hitting just .190/.255/.238 this year for a wRC+ of 28. Brian Serven is on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment with Albuquerque, though he’s hitting just .260/.289/.438 at that level for a 64 wRC+ and had a line of .130/.130/.174 in the majors earlier this year.

The Rockies will now add Alfaro into the mix amid those other options. Once a top 100 prospect, Alfaro hasn’t quite clicked in the majors despite continually crushing in the minors. He’s hit .256/.305/.396 in his major league career for a wRC+ of 89 and also received subpar marks for his defensive work.

If Alfaro can get back up to the majors, the timing will potentially be important for his future status. He currently has five years and 83 days of major league service time. Since a new “year” flips over at 172 days, he is currently 89 days shy of the six-year mark that comes with automatic free agency. If he were called up in the middle of July or later and finally had his long-awaited breakout, he would come up short of that mark and could be retained by the Rockies via arbitration for another season. It’s also possible that his new deal contains opt-outs similar to his deal with the Red Sox, though that’s not publicly known at this time.

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