The former All-Star Game MVP has left and made way for future talents
Welcome to the 2024 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2024. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
★ ★ ★
No. 8, Elías Díaz, 1.2 rWAR
Entering 2024, it was a bygone conclusion that Elías Díaz would once again serve as an important member of the Rockies lineup. Coming off of a solid 2023 that saw him elected to his first All-Star Game, during which he was elected MVP, Díaz was again ready to be work with Colorado’s pitching staff and maybe even serve as a veteran presence for a team that’s seemingly focusing on finding the stars of tomorrow.
And yet it wasn’t to be.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Rockies decided to move on from Díaz in August when Drew Romo was called up. ending his career in Colorado.
This came as a bit of a shock — to fans and players alike. Díaz wasn’t exactly killing it to that point in the season after struggling with a hamstring injury for much of the season, but he was certainly not terrible, slashing .270/.315/.378 and recording a 1.0 defensive dWAR. With Romo on the rise and options available in Hunter Goodman and Jacob Stallings, though, the Rockies decided to let Diáz go.
After his departure, the Venezuelan backstop signed on with the Padres, contributing little en route to their NLDS loss to the Dodgers. Now he enters 2025 as a free agent, with rumors circulating that he may be bound for the east coast as a member of the up-and-coming Baltimore Orioles.
It’s a bit of a shame that Díaz left Colorado in the unceremonious fashion that he did, especially considering that he’s one of the better catchers in the team’s history. He’s been responsible for some big moments in his time, and his decampment seemed to have a profound effect on the Rockies locker room.
This move was as clear a declaration as we’ve gotten in a while: the dish is Romo’s now and into the foreseeable future. Díaz is surely capable of providing a mentorship role behind him, but it seems the team is more interested in the services of Jacob Stallings, who was retained this offseason.
And so the book closes on one of Colorado’s best backstops. It will be interesting to where Díaz winds up, as plenty of teams could use a power-hitting catcher on their roster. His fielding peripherals are significantly ahead of his hitting, but he’s still good for about 12 homers a season and about a .250 batting average.
Regardless of where he lands, we, of course, thank Elías for his work with the Rockies. During his tenure, he was a consistent and (mostly) durable part of the lineup, which was important following Tony Wolters leaving. Hopefully he can provide similar support to whichever club he joins in the future and continue his standard of play in his new home.
★ ★ ★
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!