Mets, Padres, Phillies, Yankees Among Teams Interested In Brenton Doyle

Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle is garnering “widespread trade interest,” according to Ari Alexander of 7News Boston.  The Padres, Phillies, Yankees, and Mets are just some of the “many” teams who have checked in with the Rox about the two-time Gold Glover.

Doyle won the NL center field Gold Glove in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and he won a Fielding Bible Award as well in 2024.  However, his stellar defense took a step backwards in 2025, as per such public defensive metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average.  After recording 14 OAA each in both 2023 and 2024, Doyle had “only” six OAA in 2025, though naturally this is still very strong.  The DRS dropoff was more severe, as Doyle went from +29 DRS over the 2023-24 seasons to an even 0 total last year.

The focus on Doyle’s defense is necessary since he has yet to show that he contribute as a big league hitter.  He had only a 44 wRC+ over 431 plate appearances in his 2023 rookie season, but boosted that wRC+ up to 97 in 2024 by hitting .260/.317/.446 with 23 home runs and 30 stolen bases over 603 plate appearances.  This improved offense and Doyle’s superb defense combined for a 3.6 fWAR season, making him an immensely valuable player if he could generate anything close to league-average production at the plate.

Unfortunately, Doyle badly regressed to a 65 wRC+ in 2025, hitting only .233/.274/.376 over 538 PA.  Between this lack of offense and his diminished defense, Doyle barely topped replacement-level production in posting 0.4 fWAR.  It is very possible and understandable that Doyle’s mind was on matters far more important than baseball last year, as the outfielder and wife lost their unborn child in April, 12 weeks into the pregnancy.

Doyle’s 2025 numbers apparently haven’t had much impact on his trade value, which isn’t that surprising for a few reasons.  The 27-year-old is a Super Two player who is controlled through the 2029 season, and Doyle is projected for a $3.2MM salary in his first trip through the arbitration process this winter.  At worst, Doyle is still an excellent defender and a strong baserunner, with 70 steals in 82 attempts during his big league career.  Though Doyle strikes out a lot and doesn’t walk much, he makes a lot of solid contact and has some pop in his bat, and could break out in a more normalized offensive environment than Coors Field.

This potential for offensive improvement could appeal to the Mets, who already have a glove-first player in Tyrone Taylor as their top option in center field.  The Phillies plan to give top prospect Justin Crawford a look in their big league outfield this year, though since it isn’t known if Crawford will be a center fielder over the long term, installing Doyle would allow Crawford to take on a less pressurized role in the corner outfield.

The Yankees and Padres have more crowded outfield pictures.  With Trent Grisham accepting the qualifying offer, New York’s starting outfield is ostensibly set between Grisham, Aaron Judge, and Jasson Dominguez, plus the club is still interested in re-signing Cody Bellinger.  Doyle might be viewed as a fallback plan if Bellinger signs elsewhere, and Doyle’s presence would both provide some guard if Dominguez still isn’t fully ready for the Show, or if Grisham’s sharp defensive decline from 2025 carries over into next year.  Doyle is a right-handed hitter, so he could split time with the lefty-swinging Grisham in center field.

San Diego has Jackson Merrill in center field, flanked in the corners by Fernando Tatis Jr. and (after his club option was exercised) Ramon Laureano.  Merrill is coming off an injury-marred 2025 season but he was still productive at the plate, and though defensive metrics are split on his work in center field, he has done an overall solid job considering that he learned center field on the fly prior to making his MLB debut in 2024.  Tatis and Merrill are locked up over the long term, so Doyle could be a fourth outfielder in 2026, and the Padres could re-evaluate the situation once Laureano’s contract is up next winter.  The fact that the Padres and Rockies are division rivals might complicate any trade, however.

In regards to the Rox, it remains to be seen if the team will even trade Doyle at all, since they’d be selling low on a player who might well be in line for a rebound year.  Trade interest in Doyle has stretched back to at least last summer’s trade deadline, and there is a sense that Colorado might move an outfielder since the outfield is one of the few relative positions of depth on the roster.  New president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta is open to basically anything as he tries to turn around a 119-loss team, so if another team makes a big enough offer for Doyle, DePodesta could very well consider swinging a trade now in order bring some much-needed young talent into the organization.