The Colorado Rockies didn’t have to wait long to figure out their catching situation as veteran catcher Jacob Stallings re-signed with the team on Wednesday to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026, the club announced.

The deal, as first reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand via a source, guarantees Stallings $2 million, while the option is worth $2 million and carries a $500,000 buyout. MLB Trade Rumors also reports that the buyout price would increase by $150,000 if Stallings plays in 80 games at catcher, another $150,000 at 90 games and $200,000 if he appears in 100 games behind the plate. The club hasn’t confirmed the value of the deal.

Stallings, who turns 35 on December 22, enjoyed a resurgent career year with the Rockies in 2024. In 82 games last season, he set full-season career highs in batting (.263), OBP (.357), slugging (.453), OPS (.810) and home runs (nine) with a 114 wRC+. He drew plenty of walks (9.6% in 2024) and struck out at a roughly league-average rate (23.1%). Much of his resurgence at the plate this season after two down years in Miami was attributed to Rockies hitting Hensley Meulens who worked with Stallings on eye-strengthening exercises to improve his physical vision.

Initially brought in on a similar deal last offseason, Stallings served as backup to Elias Díaz eventually evolving into a nearly 50% split between the two behind the plate. Now, Stallings is set to work as the primary catcher behind the plate while being paired with a younger tandem partner in 2025. Hunter Goodman, who possesses plenty of power prowess at the plate, saw some time behind and is still trying to find his place with the team defensively. Rockies No. 8 prospect Drew Romo also made his debut late in the season and struggled offensively in a small sample size, but has shown excellent skills behind the plate. There are a few other young catchers vying for their major league debut and the Rockies hope that Stallings can help mentor them while also guiding a pitching staff that is getting younger.

“It was a fun year,” Stallings told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “The familiarity of knowing the guys and knowing the coaches and knowing the front office like that was a huge factor. My kids made friends, and you just build the relationships. That was a huge, huge draw to Denver. And, yeah, I felt great about my year.

“I would love to build on the offensive success that I had, and it really helped take that next step forward. It showed in our play toward the end of the year.”

Stallings declined a mutual option at the end of the season but the plan always seemed to be to re-sign for both parties due to how much the Rockies valued him and Stallings enjoyed being with the team. The 2021 Gold Glover brought a steady hand behind the dish, throwing out a career-high 12 runners attempting to steal, 12th most among NL catchers, despite his part-time duty. Statcast also ranked him fourth among 66 qualified catchers in baseball with 11 blocks above average.

Re-signing Stallings was certainly at the top of the Rockies’ to-do list for the offseason and now their sights turn to shuffling some more money around and trying to swing trades. It’s been reported that reliever Justin Lawrence, second baseman Brendan Rodgers and starter Cal Quantrill could be on the trade block. They may also have interest in another veteran reliever and reliable bat that may potentially play right field.

As of now, they are a bit more settled behind the plate and have a full 40-man roster before Friday’s non-tender deadline.