The Rockies have yet to make any significant moves since Paul DePodesta assumed control of baseball operations two months ago. They’re one of two teams that has yet to sign a free agent to a major league deal. Unlike the Red Sox (the other team for which that’s the case), Colorado hasn’t done much via trade either. Their only moves on the trade front were to acquire lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino from Boston and to deal former first-round pick Ryan Rolison away for cash.
A quiet offseason was always to be expected for a new executive working with one of the worst rosters in MLB history. The Rox aren’t going to invest much in the 2026 team. They don’t have many productive veterans to dangle on the trade market. The exception might be in the outfield, as DePodesta hinted that he could subtract from that area to try to add controllable pitching.
Let’s look at the possibilities.
Doyle probably has the highest ceiling of Colorado’s outfielders. He may also be the least likely to move. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last month that the Rox were reluctant to sell low on the 27-year-old center fielder. Doyle is under arbitration control for four seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.2MM salary.
A stellar defensive player, Doyle has been a target for teams looking for help in a thin center fielder market. The question is whether he’s capable of providing anything at the plate. Doyle looked to have taken a step forward in 2024. He hit 23 homers while cutting his strikeout rate nearly 10 percentage points from his 35% mark as a rookie. The bat dramatically regressed last year, as he stumbled to a .233/.274/.376 line with 15 homers. He kept his strikeout rate around 25% but hit more ground balls and made less of a power impact than he had the previous year.
Moniak is coming off his best year at the plate. Signed to a $1.25MM contract after being released by the Angels in Spring Training, the lefty hitter popped a career-high 24 homers for Colorado. He batted .270/.306/.518 across 461 trips to the dish. Moniak made hard contact (a 95 MPH+ exit velocity) on 45% of his balls in play, easily the best mark of his six MLB seasons.
The surface numbers would seem to make the former first overall pick a strong trade chip for a rebuilding team. The underlying splits aren’t so flattering. Moniak did the vast majority of his damage at Coors Field, where he hit .303/.348/.598 with 15 longballs. His .230/.255/.425 slash away from Denver is a lot less encouraging. Moniak’s rate stats are inflated by his usage, as the Rox shielded him to 60 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.
There was also a dramatic dip in Moniak’s defensive grades. He had graded as a solid, albeit not exceptional, defender who could handle all three outfield spots with the Angels. His numbers in Colorado were well below average no matter where he played. Moniak remains a plus runner with an average arm, so the tools are there to be a competent defender, but it’s another question for interested clubs.
Moniak has between four and five years of service time. He’s controllable through 2027 and projected for a $4.2MM arbitration salary.
Colorado landed Freeman in last offseason’s Nolan Jones trade with the Guardians. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each graded him around a win below replacement level in his first year in Colorado. However, he showed more or less the same profile he had in Cleveland that made him a trade target for the Rox a year ago.
Freeman hit .281/.354/.361 while striking out in fewer than 12% of his 428 plate appearances. He was easily the team’s most consistent on-base threat. The 26-year-old has zero power but he puts the ball in play and has plus speed. As was the case with Moniak, Freeman’s WAR was depressed by dreadful defensive metrics that don’t fully align with his athleticism and arm strength.
A team that views the defensive grades as a one-year blip could still be in on Freeman as a utility piece for whom they’re willing to swap a depth arm. He’s controllable for three seasons with a $1.8MM arbitration projection and has a minor league option remaining.
A supplemental first-round pick in 2022, Beck got his first look at MLB pitching two years later. He had a rough go as a rookie, striking out at a 35% clip while hitting .188 over his first 55 games. His sophomore season was more promising. Beck spent a couple weeks in Triple-A in April but was otherwise on the MLB roster for the entire season. He worked as Colorado’s primary left fielder and put up decent counting stats. Beck hit 16 home runs, 27 doubles, and five triples while stealing 19 bases.
Beck’s .258/.317/.416 batting line was worse than league average after accounting for Coors Field. He whiffed on nearly 30% of his swings and struggled down the stretch, hitting .250/.316/.377 with a 32% strikeout rate after the All-Star Break. Beck’s physical tools are intriguing. He has above-average bat speed, runs well, and has a strong arm. The approach and pure hitting ability have been questions dating back to his college days, though, and the Rockies are probably better holding onto him to see if he makes any strides at age 25.
Veen and Fernández are left-handed hitting corner outfielders who once ranked among the top offensive prospects in the Colorado system. Both players hit well in the low minors but have seemingly plateaued against upper level pitching. Neither has any kind of MLB track record. Veen has only played in 12 big league games. Fernández hit .225/.265/.348 over 147 plate appearances as a rookie.
Both players have options remaining. They’re probably ticketed for Triple-A Albuquerque as things stand. They’re each young enough to be change of scenery candidates if Colorado’s new regime isn’t as bullish on them as the previous front office had been. That’s theoretically also true of prospect Sterlin Thompson, the only other outfielder on the 40-man roster. Thompson seems likelier to get a chance to play his way into Warren Schaeffer’s outfield next season on the heels of a .296/.392/.519 showing in Albuquerque.
I wish they’d do something. Rocktober in 2007 was a blast.
You have the Broncos at least.
And the Avalanche and the Nuggets. Denver is rich in play-off prospects… and will be moving in that direction in MLB, at least that is the hope for Rockies fans.
The Rockies have a great chance to win more regular season games than the Avalanche, the Nuggets and the Broncos (each..not combined). The glass is 1/2 full….
Nuggets aren’t doing bad either. 4th in the NBA West. Avalanche in the NHL are first in the west. Denver has plenty of joy even if they don’t expect much from the D’Backs. What a nice distraction to have.
We expect a lot more from the D’Backs than our own team, the Rockies
I have no clue why I said D’Backs. Take it easy on this old boy lol
That only works if you are a local Rockies fan. I am a Rockies fan that lives 1500 miles away and don’t give a hoot about any other Denver sports team.
Same. Lonely Pac NW Rox fan
I am in the other direction. I am a Kentucky man that used to work nights, so I started following teams in the West. I got tired of watching Reds games that were half over by the time I got home. That was in the past, but my Rockies love stayed.
You’re a marvel, sir. Not sure they make’em like u anymore.
I’m sure David Stearns is salivating for a buy low option to replace Nimmo in left.
Nimmo is in Texas now
Hence his comment.
Doyle is the only one with any value.
Just sign Raimel Tapia and Yonathan Daza for old times sake and the team would improve at this point. Realistically none of these players will command a huge return so I don’t see why they wouldn’t hang on to them through at least the deadline and decide then.
I am hoping Jordan Beck is traded. I like him, but I like the rest more. I think he could bring back a decent young pitcher. Tyler Freeman needs to be moved back to his natural position at 2B. I think one of Fernandez or Veen should be swapped out for a young starter as well That would leave Doyle in center, Moniak in right (where he played his best defense), and the remaining player of Fernandez or Veen and Thompson could compete in left during spring. They should sign a couple of “leftover” free agents late to also compete for left field. If one of the two rookies wins the LF battle, the two vets could be kept as bench bats and 4th and 5th OFs. If one of the vets wins the battle, the other could be the 4th OF and you could keep Freeman as the 5th OF and let the two rooks go to AAA.
None of these bats are close enough to free agency where you need to trade them. On top of that you’d be selling low on almost all of them. Doyle in CF flanked by Beck and Thompson should be plan A unless you get a stupid offer on Doyle, IMHO.
Waiting to trade them until you NEED to trade them is just silly. If you wait until you need to trade someone, you lose all leverage. Yes, you might occasionally “lose” a deal when a guy blossoms elsewhere, but that happens to every team. I would rather lose a deal while trying to improve than lose a deal that I never even tried to make.
How are you going to improve this team then? Give me a trade idea, let’s go. Who are you trading and what are you getting back?
Honestly it is above my pay grade, but let’s play. Beck should have enough value to bring back a starting pitcher. Maybe to KC for Lorenzen or the Mets for Manaea or Senga Might take a package deal with other moving parts, but it could be done. It would be a lot easier to find a vet outfielder before Spring Training than to find a vet SP.
I think I would try to pair Veen or Fernandez with a reliever like Jaden Hill or Luis Peralta to try and get someone squeezed out of a rotation like Jose Berrios along with a lotto tocket prospect or two.
I would keep Doyle in center and Moniak in right. Then I would try to do an outright competition for LF among the keeper of Veen/Fernandez, Thompson, and a couple of late stage veteran FAs who could be cut or kept as bench bats if they lost. If they won, you could send Thompson to AAA easily.
The Rockies just have too many guys ready to make the jump from AAA to the majors, especially in the OF and the bullpen. They need to thin the herd. I just want to see SOMETHING done by a team that lost 119 games. Running it back again is not the answer. But I believe it is going to be the attempt.
Freeman needs to be put in the leadoff position. Moniak and Beck are the damage creators in the outfield. Goodman is obviously the #1 for damage but he doesn’t play the OF. But, I agree that they should move Freeman to 2B.
Freeman was their leadoff hitter
@Tigers3232
I know but he’s being mentioned as a trade target. Their next best table setter is Beck and then it falls off a cliff.
Did you read the article or just come to reply to your favorite user?
You ais “Freeman needs to be put in the leadoff position”. That statement is being said as of he needs to be introduced to that lineup spot not kept there.
You really should understand what you are talking about prior to being pompous…
@Tigers3232
I just explained it to you. You really should understand what you’re talking about prior to posting. Clearly, you didn’t read the article nor understand what I posted. But that’s typical for you…
@Old York there was nothing you needed to explain to me. Im well aware of where Freeman played. Im also well aware how to construct sentences and said sentences meanings. The same can’t be said of you….
@Tigers3232
Clearly you didn’t read the article and put my post in context. Try that first next time.
I read the article and understood what it said. I also read your comment where you said “Freeman needs to be put in leadoff position”. You clearly stated it as though he has not already been leading off.
Freeman, Tovar, Moniak, Goodman at the top doesn’t put the yips in anybody but if I were a Rockies fan, Id be excited about it.
Actually, it would make more sense if the top 4 were Tyler Freeman, Jordan Beck, Hunter Goodman and Mickey Moniak. I would keep Tovar further down the lineup, such as 8th or 9th.
Tyler freeman is a Royal
No he isn’t. You may be thinking of Tyler Tolbert.
For anyone who cares about such things
Beck 90 wRC+
Moniak 110 wRC+
Doyle 65 wRC+
Freeman 91 wRC+
And projections
Player wRC+, WAR/PA
Doyle 81, 1.5/595
Freeman 99, 0.9/406
Moniak 95, 0.6/483
Beck 87, 0.4/567
Veen 84, 0.1/336
Yanwuiel 81, 0.0/126
fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&t…
So you’re saying those are the guesses. Meaningless.
stymee, done. Muted.
Just to save a certain type of person from hammering away on their keyboard, no, projections are not anyone saying that this is exactly how a player is going to perform next year. That’s just what people who don’t understand what a protection is think.
For anyone who’s not as anti-intellectual as stymee here, here’s some actual data on how accurate projections are.
Did you mean to post a link at the end of this?
Everyone incorporates projections into their lives. There is no other path, since nothing in the future is guaranteed.
rare
Yes. Yes I did
It’s here
Source: FanGraphs share.google/bFyFjkSeWa8qMVvAR
Basically ya saying each player will have roughly average results and might slightly be better than a replacement AAA player so why spend on them?
They could simply choose not to trade anyone bc at some point they would have to keep their talent. OF is currently a rare strength for the Rockies atm.
But it is a surplus strength. You only have three OF spots. With as many holes as the Rox have with the rotation, they do not have the luxury of collecting extra outfielders that a stronger team could. It is much better to cash in a couple of them and sign actual bench guys instead of turning your prospects into bench guys.
Realistically speaking you need four good OF to get through an entire season. Ideally you should have five. Moniak should be relegated to DH most games and outside of Doyle you can rotate Beck, Thompson, and Veen for the other two spots. That’s not really a surplus in my book its more of a baseline and in terms of talent it’s a decent baseline to work from.
Realistically speaking? That might be true for a World Series contending team, but the Rockies are not that. And when you look at the roster, the Rockies have two positions with more players than others, outfield and bullpen. THAT is a surplus. Or else they don’t have anything at all to fix the rotation and the infield. n an ideal world with a balanced roster, I would agree with you, but the Rockies do not have a balanced roster.
Moniak was a starting CF, he cant play LF? I think Moniak for one reason or another gets piled on, he was 1.1 for more than his bat.
Left field in Coors is a lot more difficult to play than LF in most other places.
Trade from the OF and then what. Now your OF is no longer a strength and there’s little guarantee the pieces you get back are going to make a difference in the rotation, in fact it’s likely they won’t make a difference at all bc of the Coors effect. Now you have a team with no strength anywhere.
You should be building around your strengths not trade from it but that’s just my opinion. Either way I’m not even sure that Beck and others are the right OF group for Coors because you really want three CF guys playing out there or at minimum three guys with CF speed/arms. It’s not just the thin air that kills pitchers it’s all those singles and doubles that fall into the gaps so I’m hoping the new FO realizes this and makes some moves to get two more CF to flank Doyle and cover more ground.
Moniak should be a full time DH he is awful on the grass.
It is, you really want a CF in both corners at Coors to at least give your pitching a chance at keeping people off the bases.
My Mets are desperate for an oF or two, but unless you could combine Moniak’s offense with Doyle’s defense there isn’t anything interesting here.
They should be leaning hard into a mix of power bats and slap hitters that take walks. Colorado would be lethal because of Coors Field if they got a bunch of on base guys. They need guys that don’t strikeout. As far as pitching goes they need flame throwers who throw 97+. Breaking pitches stay straight at altitude.
Imho, the Rockies should transform Coors into a major home-field advantage (think Denver Nuggets) by leaning into the altitude difference. Lean into it instead of trying to “fix” it. Build your entire squad around power and put nine power bats into your lineup for the home games and every OF on the roster should be a natural CF who can cover all the extra grass they have.
They still gotta play 81 games on the road but, if you make it really hard to win at Coors if you can get to 50-60 wins at home then IMHO everything else will sort itself out. 50-60 wins at home is doable the Yankees and Mariners both have done it.
The players they mentioned combined for a -2.0 bWAR, and their OF ranks 29th in fWAR.
Time to sell this Team and go back to Montreal. This Franchise has been a joke for years now!
What?
Time for you to learn some actual baseball history.
The Rockies have a loyal fan base that still comes out and supports the organization. The ownership has done a poor job in hiring the right people to run the franchise and they have gotten really bad. Don’t know how best for Rockies though to develop a pitching staff. Pitching there is difficult,.not many free agents would want to go there…. Feel bad the environment hurts in putting a pitching staff together. The fans of the Rockies deserve better…
Except they don’t really have loyal fans. At least not as many as the numbers say. They have loyal partygoers that come to Coors and usually cheer on the other team. In my opinion, Coors is the best place to watch a ballgame in the league. Or at least top 3. Visiting fans show up in droves. Most of the time (Braves, Cubs, Cards, Dodgers, Giants, Padres) when you are watching a game, the crowd is cheering harder for the other team than the Rockies.
But I will agree that the rest of us do deserve better.
Coors Field effect. Doyle .306/.341/.502 slash at home in 2025. .162/.209/.251 on road. Second straight year for this trend (better on road in ’23). Big impact on value to other clubs.
I wonder how much the Coors hangover effect has to do with this though. Rockies hitters get used to seeing less spin at altitude at home and it impacts their performance on the road. Once they get away from Coors, they adapt to the higher general spin rate and the gap in their home/road splits decreases. Happened with Tulowitzki and Arenado IIRC
And LeMahieu. And Holliday. And Bichette. And Galarraga. And Burks. And the ones that didn’t like Hawpe, Atkins and Carlos Gonzalez had already started to play badly BEFORE they left.
Home road splits are 100% useless for Rockies hitters. Coors is the best hitting park in the league. You also have to factor in that most hitters hit better in their home park because they use to it. It would be a miracle if ANY hitter did not hit much better at home than on the road.
Besides there is no constant for “road” numbers anymore than their is a constant for “home” numbers. Every team plays a different schedule and every team has a different collection of parks built into their road numbers. The Rockies are always at a disadvantage because they are the only team in the league that doesn’t get to include the best hitting park in the league into their road numbers.
Plus, until it is solved, the effect on hitters and pitchers going from Coors Field altitude to sea level, and visa-versa every other week plays a true toll on players both physically and mentally.
The new regime will make an all out effort to make this an advantage.
You’d think – IF trading the 2018, 1st rounder =
IF those guys are still employed….
= The Scouting Department is a good place to start making changes.
Tyler Freeman for Colton Gordon and Michael Knorr.
Who says no?
Probably Astros. I would take that deal if I was the Rockies for sure.
Do the Rockies ever do anything to improve themselves? It seems like every year they either do little or nothing in the off-season. I’m sure they do something but whatever it is it’s not working.
They are doing something to improve themselves. Dick Monfort who failed with his control of the Rockies turned the reins over to his son Walker. They have a new President of Baseball Operation in Depodesta. New GM in Byrnes and are building an analytic team which they should have had from the beginning. The FO has been rebuilt, several new coaches from outside of the organization.
This is a total rebuild, give it a chance and let’s see what they can do. The fanbase is there and although it declined over the past few years they still draw 2.5M. I’ve watched this team since day 1 and supported them. I’ve had responses from the FO( which surprised me)and I’m holding out hope that within a few years they are playing for a playoff spot.
I know they’ve made some drastic changes in the front office. Very drastic for this organization that seems reluctant to change. Hopefully things will get going for you guys soon. The fan base has always been incredible there. It’s just a shame that the on field product is what it is. There’s almost nowhere to go but up. Hope something works out soon for you guys.
Maybe Moniak should try playing first base, create some versatility for himself and the team…
I question the logic of the article. The players mentioned combined for a -2.0 bWAR, and their outfield as a whole is ranked 29th in fWAR. I don’t think they will get anything back, but they should trade everyone they get offer(s) for.
doyle will definitely bring a return. He’s a top 3 defensive CF who can hit lefties.
None of those players bring back anything of substantial value in trade. Aside from Moniak all are under team control for years where the Rockies don’t need to worry about fixing the Outfield, especially when they have holes at 1B/2B/3B, the starting rotation, and the bullpen to figure out
They do not need to bring back substantial value. ANY value would be a positive right now. When you have six starting caliber (or projected as starting caliber) outfielders to cover three spots and the rest of the team is weak enough to suffer 119 losses last season, then it would be foolish to not try and get value elsewhere for some of them. Even if it is not substantial.
Fernandez and Veen have showed nothing at the MLB level. Freeman should be at 2B. That leaves 3 for 3 spots.
The Rockies should be signing MLB players to one year deals or minor league deals that they can flip mid-season
Lots of prospects have showed nothing at the MLB level. They still get traded all the time. And Sterlin Thompson is also in the 40 man roste, so he should be counted as well, even if he is slated for AAA for the most part of 2026.
And if you move Freeman to 2B, then what becomes of Amador and Ritter? Any way you look at it, the Rockies need to thin the herd of guys ready to prove themselves at the major league level. I’d rather they trade them now and get back something instead of losing them for nothing like Bernabel and Toglia.
I would be really disappointed if the Rays traded for any of these guys, they’re replacement level outfielders at best.
I doubt the Rays are going to make win-now moves, and the Rockies are not a good match for them in a trade. Seems to me they’re making the play for 2027-onward. Not necessarily dumping everyone, just taking a step back to retool.
Don’t you dare trade Doyle Colorado
A lot of these guys look like fluke players, which is why teams aren’t to excited to trade for them.
I like them as players but not to the point where I’d give a lot to get them on my team. There also cannot be a way Moniak is that bad on defense to cancel out that offensive season entirely. Combine him and Doyle and you get a nice player.
The only place of value the Rockies can deal from is their pitching staff imo. They should part that bullpen out. Also dangle Freeland. Decent pitching is scarce and there are a lot of more competitive teams who need arms.