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Colorado Rockies roster news: Elias Diaz, Jairo Diaz avoid arbitration with one-year deals

By Noah Yingling

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 01: Manager Bud Black #10 of the Colorado Rockies takes the baseball from Jairo Diaz #37 and removes him from the game after giving up seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning of work against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on September 1, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 01: Manager Bud Black #10 of the Colorado Rockies takes the baseball from Jairo Diaz #37 and removes him from the game after giving up seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning of work against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on September 1, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Rockies have announced that they have come to terms with catcher Elias Diaz and right-handed reliever Jairo Diaz with their 2021 contracts.

The Colorado Rockies have announced that they have agreed to one-year contracts for catcher Elias Diaz and right-handed reliever Jairo Diaz to avoid arbitration.

Elias Diaz, 30, played in 26 games for the Rockies in 2020 and he hit .235/.288/.353 with two home runs, nine RBI, and an OPS+ of 62. He also was at league average in Runs Average Strikes (pitch framing, per Statcast at zero.

Despite being at league average in pitch framing and well below league average offensively, he was the best Rockie catcher in both categories in 2020 and (offensively), by a wide margin. His contract was for $1.2 million, plus incentives, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

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Jairo Diaz, 29, struggled mightily in the Rockies bullpen in 2020 as he pitched in 24 games and had an ERA of 7.65, 6.64 FIP, 70 ERA+, and a ghastly 2.25 WHIP due to his hit rate (14 per nine innings), home run rate (1.8 per nine innings), and walks (6.3 per nine innings) all being very high.

He was much better in 2019 for the Rockies as he appeared in 56 games with an ERA of 4.53 (3.70 FIP). His contract was for $1.1 million, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

If the Rockies did not come to terms with either Diaz (no relation) by tomorrow, they would have either had to go to arbitration at a later date or non-tender them. The Rockies still have nine more players that could be non-tendered or could go to arbitration, as we discussed in this article back in October.

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The players that are included in that are David Dahl, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Carlos Estevez, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Jon Gray, Ryan McMahon, Raimel Tapia, Tony Wolters, Daniel Bard, and Mychal Givens. Most of them will likely be tendered contracts but due to injuries and/or poor seasons in 2020, we could see the Rockies non-tender a few players. If they do, we will know by this time tomorrow.

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