Despite coming off a down season at the plate, Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle has drawn interest from several clubs — the Yankees, Mets, Padres and Phillies among them. However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the newly remade front office, led by president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and GM Josh Byrnes, is likely to hang onto Doyle rather than sell low after a rough year in the batter’s box.
Doyle, a premium defender in center field, is eligible for arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player this winter and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $3.2MM next season. The 27-year-old connected on 23 homers and swiped 30 bags in 2024 while slashing .260/.317/.446, but those rate stats dipped to .233/.274/.376 in 2025. It bears mentioning that Doyle’s production at the plate improved considerably in the final few months of the season and that he and his family went through a grueling tragedy early in the season that surely impacted him on the field. From July onward, he batted .281/.308/.452 with nine of his 15 home runs and 10 of his 18 steals.
Even as his bat slumped, Doyle remained a quality defensive player at a premium position. His defensive grades in 2025 weren’t quite as strong as in the two preceding seasons, but Doyle has nonetheless tallied 3357 big league innings in center field and been credited with 29 Defensive Runs Saved and 34 Outs Above Average. He’s never posted a negative grade in either statistic. Statcast credits him with 91st percentile range, 97th percentile arm strength in the outfield and 99th percentile overall arm value. Doyle is already a two-time Gold Glove winner (despite playing only 126 games in his rookie campaign), and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he at some point took home a Platinum Glove.
Given Doyle’s age, remaining club control, plus defense and blend of power/speed — to say nothing of a paper-thin market for center fielders this winter — it’s plenty understandable that rival clubs in need of center field help (or outfield help in general) would look into the possibility of acquiring him. The Rockies know they’re not going to be competitive next season and figure to at least hear out offers on virtually anyone.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic suggests that the Phillies didn’t have (or weren’t willing to part with) the type of young, controllable pitching the Rockies would understandably seek in any deal for their center fielder. Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has since indicated that top prospect Justin Crawford will get an opportunity to be his team’s primary center fielder.
There’s no urgency for the Rockies to move Doyle at this time. His strong performance in July and August give some hope for a turnaround at the plate this coming season, and Doyle’s four remaining years of club control mean that a rebound would create immense trade value, be it ahead of the 2026 deadline or in subsequent offseasons.
I wouldn’t trade him if I were them, but I’d take him in Cincy.
Nobody trades guys with 3 or 4 years of control happens so infrequently it’s not worth talking about. They certainly don’t trade superstars like skenes but yet fans here think they can maybe get him for two prospects and two roster players they don’t want anymore.
I don’t think he would be as successful in Cincy. They have a small outfield and that would basically ruin the best part of Doyle’s game which is his ability to cover ground. It would be kind of like when Billy Hamilton was there except with even better defense.
Either the market isn’t there or the asking price was too high. Either way Rockies shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of young players
Good, now sign him to an extension while his value is down. Then trade two of Zac Veen, Jordan Beck, Yanquiel Fernandez, Mickey Moniak . I’d personally keep Moniak and Fernandez and trade the other two.
In my opinion, the Rockies only have six “don’t trade now” players in their entire organization: Goodman, Doyle, Tovar, Dollander, Condon, and Holliday. Agree that they should sign Doyle to an extension asap. Also extend Goodman. Everyone else should be available for trade.
I would agree with that list, although I am teetering on Dollander because I don’t know if he will ever be successful in Coors. I am also of the opinion that Kyle Freeland is far more important to the Rockies than he would be anywhere else as a homegrown leader. He is the new Charlie Blackmon and should be kept as well.
I admire Kyle Freeland a lot ( he’s been my favorite Rockie for several years) for his competitive spirit. However, although I think it’s highly unlikely, if a decent trade offer is made for him, I’d bid him farewell.
See my thought is that the decent trade offer for Freeland is not going to be coming. That is why I said he is more valuable to the Rockies than any other team. No team is going to pay the Rockies the price that he is worth to THEM.
Once again, it is like Blackmon. He could have been traded in his last couple of years, but I am much happier that he finished his career in Denver than the Rockies getting some low A lotto ticket or something.
I agree, sign him to an extension he’s the best CF the Rockies have ever had. He was able to focus on his game the last 2 months after the family tragedy weighed heavily on him. Eager to see Brett Pill work with each player and get more production from their bats. With Doyle’s speed it should be fun to watch.
Translation: They put him on the block, and didn’t like the low end prospect returns they were hearing…
Rockies Unlikely To Trade Brenton Doyle
This is a shame, he would have looked good in an Orioles uniform!!!
Im so tired of him getting blamed for the Rockies historically bad season. If anyone deserves that free pass its doyle by miles.
In reality, no one is blaming Doyle for the historically bad Rockies season. The pitching disaster, coupled with an anemic offense was the result of a lack of organizational development, drafting, and non-cohesive use of analytics.
The Rockies fans are highly anticipating new directions in all facets of baseball operations with the unbelievable accumulation of front office and coaching talent being assembled. 2028 will be interesting.
I am absolutely certain the owner and GM have been blamed for last season. They put an offensive product on the field, and I mean no offense to the players. They had sub-replacement level players manning several starting position.
He should platoon, only bat in Home games.
Most true Rockies fans who watched Doyle saw him off to an early good start until the tragedy. One could see his mind was elsewhere. He managed to deal with it and had a decent second half. No one knowledgeable would trade him, Tovar, Goodman. No one else on the roster are anything more than replacement quality players IMHO. There are 3 or 4 young players who could amount to something, but certainly no “keepers.”