The Royals have signed catcher Elias Díaz to a minor league contract, per a club announcement. The ACES client is expected to report to major league camp next week, the team added.
The 35-year-old Díaz is a veteran of 11 big league seasons split between the Pirates, Rockies and Padres. He’s a career .247/.300/.383 hitter in exactly 2800 plate appearances but batted just .204/.270/.337 (74 wRC+) in 283 plate appearances with the Padres in 2025.
Despite his struggles on a rate basis, Díaz still popped nine homers last year. He’s logged three double-digit homer totals in his big league career, including a career-best 18 round-trippers in 371 plate appearances with the 2021 Rockies, for whom he slashed .246/.310/.464.
From a defensive perspective, Díaz has long drawn average or better marks for his ability to block balls in the dirt and for his throwing. He sports a hearty 26.8% caught-stealing rate in his career, and last year’s 24% mark was effectively right in line with the 23.8% league average. His framing grades drew anywhere from poor to bottom-of-the-scale marks earlier in his career, but he’s made significant strides over the past couple years, with Statcast now crediting him as slightly above average in both 2024 and 2025.
The Royals don’t have an immediate, pressing need behind the plate. Franchise icon Salvador Perez, of course, is still in the fold. He’ll spend some time at DH and first base, but top prospect Carter Jensen is likely to get the nod behind the dish on days when Perez isn’t back there. The 2021 third-round pick made his big league debut in 2025 after hitting .290/.377/.501 between Double-A and Triple-A, and he didn’t miss a beat in the big leagues; Jensen appeared in 20 MLB games (69 plate appearances) and slashed .300/.391/.550 with three homers.
Díaz is the third veteran catcher to sign a minor league deal/non-roster invite with the Royals, joining Luke Maile and Jorge Alfaro in that regard. However, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported last week that Maile was removed from the camp roster so he could tend to a personal matter. Kansas City remains open to welcoming him back, but that ball seems to be in Maile’s court.
