The Rockies brought in experienced catchers Elias Diaz on waivers this afternoon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The waiver process will be completed Friday afternoon. Díaz is eligible to play while on waivers, though that’s meaningless since Colorado has an off day tomorrow.

It’s possible, but by no means guaranteed, that this is the end of his four-plus-year commitment to Denver. Waivers are irrevocable, so the Rockies can’t withdraw the placement if another team makes a claim. If he goes unclaimed, the Rox could simply keep him on the MLB roster for the final six weeks of the season.

Colorado reportedly agreed to trade Díaz before the trade deadline. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote at the time that the Rox had no plans to consider another contract extension with the impending free agent. With the Rox out of the playoffs, there was little reason for them not to try to get a young talent in return. Rosenthal writes that the Rockies, however, did not find a team that was seriously interested in a trade, and Colorado ultimately held onto him past the deadline.

There is no longer any chance for the Rockies to get anything for Díaz. The MLB abolished the old waiver trade system, which was revocable in August, in 2019. Every player who was on a 40-man roster during the season, can not after the deadline. The only benefit for Colorado of placing Díaz on waivers is potential cost savings.

The 33-year-old catcher is playing on a $6 million salary this year. Between Friday and the end of the season, just over $1.4 million will be paid out. A claiming team would take that entire sum off Colorado’s books. Teams cannot negotiate with the Rockies to pay out any of the remaining money. A waiver-based acquisition is an all-or-nothing gamble. Díaz would be eligible to play in the postseason if another club were to claim, since he would be in their organization before early September.

Díaz had the best season of his career in 2023. He hit 14 home runs with a slash line of .267/.316/.409 in 526 batting appearances, which is a career high. Díaz hit another home run in the All-Star Game and was named MVP of the Midsummer Classic. His offensive output has declined this season, as he hit .270/.315/.378 in 84 games. That’s still a reasonable output for a catcher, and Díaz had a strong year defensively. He has blocked nearly 28% of base stealing attempts and has slightly above-average pitch framing ratings from Statcast.

More to follow.