The Rockies announced that they have acquired left-hander Brennan Bernardino from the Red Sox, a move that was previously reported. They also selected the contracts of left-hander Welinton Herrera, right-hander Gabriel Hughes and outfielder Sterlin Thompson. They began the day with a 40-man count of 38, meaning they needed two spots for those four additions. They made space by designating first baseman Michael Toglia and left-hander Ryan Rolison for assignment.
The three selections were necessary in order to project those players from the Rule 5 draft. In order to open space for them, the Rockies have knocked off two former first-round picks. Toglia, now 27, was taken 23rd overall in 2019. He has shown some power potential in the big leagues but always with massive strikeout problems. He has 42 home runs in 1,057 plate appearances but has been punched out at a 35% clip. He has a .201/.278/.389 batting line and 70 wRC+.
He exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward. That would make it hard for him to hang onto a roster spot, so the club has bumped him off today. The Rockies can explore some trade interest but might non-tender Toglia on Friday.
Rolison, now 28, was taken 22nd overall in 2018. He had his development thrown off by multiple factors. The pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020. After that, shoulder problems held Rolison back. He missed the entire 2022 season and then hardly pitched in 2023. He finally made it to the big leagues in 2025 but posted a 7.02 earned run average in his 42 1/3 innings. He only struck out 13% of opponents and also gave out walks at a 10.4% clip.
He still has an optioning remaining and was decent in Triple-A this year. He pitched 29 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate. Perhaps that leads to some interest but it’s also possible he ends up non-tendered in a few days.
Herrera, 22 in April, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. He has been climbing the minor league ladder, working as a reliever. He split 2025 between High-A and Double-A, posting a 2.64 ERA. He struck out 36.4% of batters faced with a 9.2% walk rate. He hasn’t yet reached the Triple-A level yet but the Rockies understandably didn’t want him to get away with those kinds of numbers.
Hughes, 24, was the club’s first round pick in 2022. He was selected 10th overall and received a $4MM signing bonus. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 but he got back on the mound this year. He made 24 starts across three different levels, logging 105 1/3 innings with a 4.19 ERA. His 19.9% strikeout rate wasn’t strong but his 8.6% walk rate was decent and he kept the ball on the ground at a 48.5% clip.
The Rockies are rebuilding and the rotation was historically bad in 2025. 14 of Hughes’ 24 starts came at the Triple-A level, so he could force his way to the majors at any point. However, he now has three option years, so the Rockies could also keep him in the minors until they feel he is ready.
Thompson, 24, was taken 31st overall in that same 2022 draft as Hughes. That was the compensation pick the Rockies received after Trevor Story rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Red Sox.
The young outfielder has hit his way up the minor league ladder. He spent 2025 in Triple-A, stepping to the plate 513 times. His 10.3% walk rate and 20.9% strikeout rate were both decent figures. He hit 18 home runs and slashed .296/.392/.519 for a 117 wRC+, though that was buoyed by a .353 batting average on balls in play. FanGraphs ranked him as the #9 prospect in the system coming into the year.
The Rockies currently have an outfield mix consisting of Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck, Zac Veen and others. Thompson can jump into that mix and push for playing time immediately, though his full slate of options also means the Rockies don’t need to rush him.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Toglia has Japan written all over him
Rolison too now that I think about it
Forrest Whitley went to Japan earlier. I can’t imagine anyone wanting Michael Toglia, they’d rather have Christian Walker. Toglia is Japan. What about Ryan Rolison? I mean, he is a left handed pitcher but anyone want him? Or is it a Japan flag.
Toglia seems more like the KBO’s style
Either way, he’s international
What a difference a year makes… Toglia goes from Rockies’ best player to DFA’d in a season. Wowza
He and Nolan Jones are confusing to me.
Nolan Jones was a great performer for one season, but the Rockies gave he and Toglia every opportunity to succeed and neither were able to fix their individual issues.
On the surface a young core built around Toglia, Jones, Tovar and Doyle looked like they’d be a quality core; but they all had difficult years.
Tovar was due to injury; Toglia and Jones just became after thoughts.
Doyle had a rough year at the plate; his wife lost their baby back in May and it took a toll on him as a player; as July and August came around his numbers improved greatly.
Well said. I’m not totally giving up on Doyle. His defense keeps him somewhat useful and I think his bat can improve. Hard to explain other than hitting a baseball is very damn hard.
I don’t know. Personal issues have a lot of impact on players. Someone said Christian Walker performed bad because he had a baby. Also, what about Adael Amandor. Tell me if I spelled it wrong.
I don’t think Amadeur or whatever his name is was anywhere close to ML ready. They just seemed to bring him up.
I seen Warming Bernabel demolish the Pirates but he cooled off. Could be something there??
Dang
Faints
Brenton Doyle is going to rebound and put the hardships of 2025 behind him. We saw him coming around the last 2 months. I’ve been faithful and a strong critic of the Rockies since the beginning. I believe there is change for the better happening.
Two more failed first round picks to toss on the fire. The Rockies first rounders in the second half of the 2010s,
2015 – Brendan Rodgers (3), Mike Nikorak (27), Tyler Nevin (38)
2016 – Riley Pint (4), Robert Tyler (38)
2017 – none (11) forfeited to sign Ian Desmond
2018 – Ryan Rolison (22), Grant Lavigne (42)
2019 – Michael Toglia (23)
Brendan Rodgers and Toglia each had one really good year, but 50% of them never played for the Rockies at all and Riley Pint pitched a grand total of 5 games and 3.2 innings. And don’t get me started on the Desmond pick.
2020 and 2021 honestly don’t look much better as Zac Veen (20 #9) and Drew Romo (20 #35) have both been passed on depth charts in the system and Benny Montgomery (21 #8) has not been Rule 5 protected for 2 years now and just finished his second year in AA hitting .201.
That is how you build a 119 loss team.
Zac Veen will be fine; he has dealt with some crazy injuries, similar to David Dahl. Veen has hit very well at all of the system. All of their picks have been touted top picks by the entire league, unfortunately they haven’t panned out in Colorado. 1/2 of it is skill development, 1/4 of it is on player motivation, and 1/4 of it is on mental skills development… The organization and the player need to want it; while Bud Black was manager he didn’t give young players the room to breathe and develop which is a MAJOR part of the issue.
You cannot blame any of those failures on Bud Black. They all failed in the minor leagues. Rodgers and Toglia were both everyday starters under Bud Black.
@hiflew you seem like a Rox fan.
Since 1993 off and on. Since 2011 hardcore.
The Rockies need to get some new scouting guys. Look at how much Charlie Condon has gone declined. Are they not training him right? The Rox will have to keep looking and changing until they can sucessfully rebuild.
@hiflew dang, that is a sad list of picks. Something in their development system for real
You cannot even really blame the system because in the first half of the decade they produced Trevor Story, Tyler Anderson, David Dahl, Jon Gray, and Kyle Freeland. All but Dahl are still in the league over a decade after being drafted. To me, that defines a very successful career. Nothing really changed in the system from the first half to the second half, so I chalk it up to just random chance failure. Only two of those players were even top 20 picks. The back half of the first round has a lot of failures for every team, so that has a lot to do with it as well.
INteresting
They need to change it.
Spot on Hiflew! Everyone bombs a 1st round draft choice from time to time but this is 7 straight years for the Rox. Montgomery has stalled out in AA and Veen will probably be traded for pitching depth. Successful organizations don’t miss this often and badly on talent. Hopefully change is a coming.
He should go international.
Are you a Rox fan?
Toglia to the ChiSox.
Bud Black could get a pitching coach job somewhere. Well, we’ve seen the first taste of Paul Depodesta. I do follow the Rockies
I don’t know whether i should be happy or sad for Bernardino. Seems like the Sox didn’t really know what to do with him other than burn him out and them dump him in Worcester. Ample opportunity in the Rockies pen, could be a big loss for the Sox
It depends on what your saying. Competitive wise, you should be very sad. However, it’s an opportunity here at the Rockies ‘pen. Players normally should care about money then winning, I suspect Brenardino is no different. He’s got an opportunity to explode and show the rest of MLB he’s really good. I would feel happy for him because he gets a new opportunity. I don’t know the Red Sox bullpen as well as you Rsox, but I don’t think Bernardino has a spot. He has one in Colorodo.