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What Might It Cost To Extend Brenton Doyle?

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Brenton Doyle has been one of the brightest spots amidst a terrible two-year run for the Rockies. The former fourth-round pick has emerged as a quality everyday center fielder. Doyle has won Gold Gloves in each of his first two MLB seasons. The defense was the only value he provided as a rookie, as he was arguably the league's worst regular hitter in 2023. He took a huge step forward in his sophomore season to break out as a quality all-around contributor.

Doyle hit .260/.317/.446 with 23 home runs across 603 plate appearances last season. That's essentially league average offense according to park-adjusted metrics that account for Coors Field. That's a major leap from his .203/.250/.343 showing as a rookie. Doyle would be an All-Star caliber player if he can simply maintain league average production at the plate. He leads all outfielders in Statcast's Outs Above Average since making his debut. Only Daulton Varsho has more Defensive Runs Saved. Doyle is probably a top three defensive outfielder in the game. He went 30-35 on stolen base attempts last year.

Last season's offensive strides came with a real change in process. The right-handed hitter had a markedly improved plate discipline profile. He cut his strikeout rate by almost 10 percentage points. After fanning 35% of the time during his rookie season, he struck out at a 25.4% clip last year. He chased fewer pitches off the plate and increased his walk rate by a couple points. Among players with 400+ plate appearances in each season, only Red Sox's catcher Connor Wong had a bigger improvement in his strikeout rate. No one took a more significant step forward than Doyle in making contact on a per-pitch basis.

That presents an interesting evaluation. The bullish case is that it demonstrates Doyle's capacity to make offensive adjustments, perhaps hinting at an even higher ceiling as he enters his third season against big league pitching. On the other hand, it's fair to wonder if last year's improvement is entirely sustainable. Players don't always progress linearly. Doyle's numbers tailed off in the second half, especially in September. He still made far more contact late last season than he had as a rookie, but his .234/.274/.407 line coming out of the All-Star Break is far below the .276/.343/.471 mark he carried into it.

Even amidst their rebuild, the Rockies have prioritized locking up players they consider key pieces. They've had mixed results on that front. The Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland extensions haven't panned out. Ryan McMahon's production has been up-and-down. Last spring's $63MM investment in Ezequiel Tovar looks like the best of the bunch, as the 23-year-old shortstop had a strong second full season in the majors.

Is Doyle next in line? Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post wrote a couple weeks ago that Colorado has had some internal conversations about the possibility. What kind of prices could the team and Doyle's camp at the Ballengee Group discuss?

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Rockies Sign Scott Alexander, Designate Aaron Schunk

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1:32pm: Alexander gets $2MM, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

11:24am: The Rockies have signed left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to a one-year, major league contract, per Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball. Infielder Aaron Schunk was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Alexander is represented by Apex Baseball.

Alexander, 35, is coming off a strong but injury-shortened season with the A’s. He missed time due to a ribcage injury and tendinitis in his shoulder, but when Alexander was healthy he logged 38 2/3 innings of 2.56 ERA ball.

Alexander fanned a below-average 19.4% of opponents against a higher-than-average 9.4% walk rate, but his mammoth 60% ground-ball rate was among the highest in MLB and helped to offset some of his more pedestrian rate stats in other areas. Of the 474 pitchers who tossed at least 30 big league innings last year, only 11 turned in a ground-ball rate of 60% or higher. Alexander was tied with Giants righty Camilo Doval at exactly 60%, sitting tenth in the game.

The 2024 season was the tenth of Alexander’s career. A sixth-round pick by the Royals back in 2010, he’s tossed 309 1/3 major league innings and combined for a 3.20 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and a colossal 67.4% ground-ball rate. That ability to pile up grounders at a higher rate than just about any pitcher in MLB surely appealed to the Rockies, whose Coors Field home is notorious for its homer-friendly nature and sprawling, expansive outfield. With quality defenders all around the infield — Ryan McMahon, Ezequiel Tovar, Thairo Estrada, Michael Toglia — the Rox are an even more natural fit.

While Alexander has never worked as a closer — 10 career saves notwithstanding — he’s no stranger to high-leverage spots. He picked up 10 holds for the A’s in 2024, has a career-high of 21 holds (Dodgers, 2018) and has amassed 62 holds in his major league career. The Rox have plenty of interesting young arms in their bullpen competition (e.g. Seth Halvorsen, Angel Chivilli, Luis Peralta, Jeff Criswell), but Alexander will provide a seasoned veteran who can comfortably pitch in late-inning spots as needed.

As things stand, there’s no set closer in Colorado. Veterans Tyler Kinley and Justin Lawrence are the most experienced options. Both have closed games for the Rox in the past, but both pitched to ERAs north of 6.00 in 2024. Those struggles could open the door for a power-armed young reliever like Halvorsen or Victor Vodnik to win the job.

Alexander’s arrival on the Rockies’ roster will come at the expense of the 27-year-old Schunk, who made his big league debut in 2024. Schunk, the Rockies’ second-round pick in 2019, appeared in 39 games with the Rox but batted only .234/.265/.330 in 98 trips to the plate. He’s slashed .291/.346/.464 in 807 turns at the plate in Triple-A over the past two seasons. It’s a solid-looking line, though when weighted for the enormously hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League (and, specifically, the Rockies’ Triple-A home in Albuquerque), it’s actually a bit shy of league-average production.

Schunk played at second base, third base and shortstop in the majors last year and has minor league experience at all three spots. He’s spent the vast majority of his time at the hot corner in pro ball, logging more than 2800 innings at third base between the minors and last year’s 89 big league frames. He’s been regarded as a sound defender at third base in scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com in the past.

Between his solid minor league output at the plate, that defensive versatility and a full slate of minor league option years remaining, Schunk could hold appeal to a club with less infield certainty than the Rockies currently possess with McMahon, Tovar, Estrada and veteran utilityman Kyle Farmer. The Rockies will have five days to trade him. A player’s DFA window is one week long, but since waivers are a 48-hour process, Schunk would need to be traded by next Monday or else placed on outright waivers.

Jordan Beck Enters Camp As Favorite For Rockies’ Right Field Job

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Jordan Beck has the inside track on the Rockies’ right field job, manager Bud Black said this week (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). The second-year outfielder is “the guy who probably gets the first crack at what you would call everyday at-bats,” Black told Saunders.

Beck is positioned to make an Opening Day roster for the first time in his big league career. Colorado called up the Tennessee product late last April. Beck played regularly in left field over the next few weeks, but he only hit .190 before breaking a bone in his left hand while making a diving catch. He underwent surgery and wound up missing over two months. Beck spent some time in the minors before returning to the MLB team in the middle of August. He continued to struggle after his second call-up, hitting .187/.282/.242 over the season’s final six weeks.

It clearly wasn’t a good rookie season. Beck appeared in 55 games and hit .188/.245/.276 across 184 trips to the plate. He struck out more than 35% of the time while drawing walks at only a 6.5% rate. Hand injuries can impact a hitter’s power, so that may have contributed to his modest output. Beck hit only three home runs with poor exit velocities and a subpar 32.1% hard contact rate.

Beck certainly has greater power upside. Prospect evaluators have credited him with plus raw power in his 6’3″, 225-pound frame. He’s a .284/.380/.509 hitter in nearly 900 minor league plate appearances. The offensive ceiling will largely be determined by how much he develops as a pure hitter. He’ll need to markedly improve upon his rookie-season strikeout and walk numbers. The righty hitter has taken plenty of walks in the minors, but scouts have questioned his elevated swing-and-miss rates since his college days.

It seems the Rockies feel the majors present the best place for that development. Beck only has 39 games of Triple-A experience. He has a full slate of options remaining, so Colorado could start him at Triple-A Albuquerque if they felt that’d be beneficial. Based on Black’s comments, it appears they believe he’s ready for an extended opportunity despite his tough rookie season. Beck tells Saunders that he fought through some mechanical issues with his swing after the injury but is coming into camp at full strength following a typical offseason.

Colorado projects to run a starting outfield of Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle, and Beck from left to right. Jones is looking to rebound from a .227/.321/.320 showing, a disappointing follow-up to his .297/.389/.542 performance during his first season in Denver. Doyle is one of the biggest bright spots for the organization. He’s a Gold Glove center fielder who hit 23 homers while making major improvements to his plate discipline last season.

Sam Hilliard is lined up as the fourth outfielder, while Sean Bouchard and former top 10 pick Zac Veen could compete for right field work if Beck struggles early in the season. Kris Bryant could still see action there, but he’ll work primarily as a designated hitter after multiple injury-wrecked years.

Which Teams Should Still Sign A Free Agent Starter?

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Spring training is beginning to kick off around the league, and as is perennially the case, there are a handful of notable free agents still looking for homes. That's of particular importance for the group of starting pitchers who still remain unsigned. Over the years, we've typically (not always) seen late-signing hitters struggle less than late-signing pitchers. Starting pitchers, in particular, seem to benefit from a full, gradual ramp-up rather than the sort of accelerated build that inherently comes with a mid-March signing.

Nick Pivetta stands as the most notable starter who's yet to find a landing spot. He's surely been impacted by the qualifying offer that's hanging over his head. Any team other than the incumbent Red Sox would need to forfeit at least one draft pick (possibly two, depending on CBT status) in order to sign the longtime Boston righty. Others still on the market include veteran mid-rotation or back-end starters Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Cal Quantrill, Ross Stripling, Lance Lynn and Patrick Corbin -- just to name some. (A full list can be seen here.)

This time of year, there's plenty of talk about teams that still need to add an arm. That can take different shapes, however. I wrote about the Mets' rotation for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers last week, but the Mets aren't necessarily the type of team that needs to go out and add an innings eater to step into the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation. They have myriad options there already. Any addition for them, presumably, would be a clear-cut playoff starter. It's a similar situation with the Orioles, Cubs, Blue Jays and many other postseason hopefuls. Other clubs, like the Tigers and Pirates, have a mostly set group with a bevy of interesting young, MLB-ready top prospects knocking on the door. Signing Quintana or Gibson to eat innings likely isn't in the cards for teams in either of these groups.

At this stage of the offseason, some of those available free agents might need to wait for a spring injury or a trade to create the opportunity they seek. But there are still teams around the league that are rather clearly in need of some steady innings in the Nos. 3-5 spots in the rotation. Let's run through some clubs that have the need and, as crucially, the budget (or lack thereof) to add an established veteran arm to the back of the staff.

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Rockies To Consider Young Pitchers For Starting Rotation

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There’s a likely scenario in which the Rockies enter the 2025 season with a rotation full of familiar faces: Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Ryan Feltner, Austin Gomber, and Antonio Senzatela. All five of those pitchers have been in Colorado’s Opening Day rotation multiple times before. Yet, general manager Bill Schmidt is not ruling out the possibility that one of the team’s young pitching prospects could supplant an established arm (per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). Accordingly, the GM says his team is open to the idea of moving a veteran starter to the bullpen to accommodate a fresh face in the rotation. On a similar note, manager Bud Black told Saunders he’s also open to some young pitchers making the team – as long as they’re ready.

As Saunders lays out, the three prospects most likely to wiggle their way onto the Opening Day roster are Chase Dollander, Carson Palmquist, and Sean Sullivan. Dollander, 23, is a consensus top-100 prospect and widely considered the best pitching prospect in the Rockies system. He looks like a future frontline starter with the upside to be a perennial Cy Young contender. However, it has been less than two years since Colorado drafted him, and he only has one year of professional experience under his belt. Thus, there’s a good chance the Rockies would like their star prospect to get some more reps in the high minors before they expose him to big league competition – at Coors Field, no less. To that point, Schmidt made it clear that the Rockies have no interest in rushing Dollander to the show. They will not consider calling him up to pitch out of the bullpen; he won’t be in Colorado until he’s ready for a role in the rotation.

However, director of player development Chris Forbes suggested that Palmquist, 24, could see his MLB debut out of the bullpen (per Saunders). The team still envisions him as a starter long-term, and he could still impress enough to earn a starting role this spring, but he could also see time as a multi-inning arm in the ’pen. The young left-hander is not as highly regarded of a prospect as Dollander – he looks more like a back-end starter than an ace – but he could be closer to the big leagues. The Rockies took him with the 88th overall pick in 2022, and he has quickly risen through the ranks of their minor league system. He has made 46 starts across four levels, including nine starts at Triple-A. In 27 starts between Double-A and Triple-A last year, he pitched to a 3.98 ERA and 4.43 FIP with an impressive 29.0% strikeout rate, although his 12.1% walk rate was rather high.

Sullivan, 22, was Colorado’s second-round pick in 2023. Most evaluators have doubts about his long-term prospects as a big league starting pitcher. Baseball America describes him as a “depth starter,” while FanGraphs sees him working in middle relief. However, the team at Baseball Prospectus included him on their list of the Rockies’ top 10 prospects, suggesting he could become a “highly efficient” number four starter. If his 2024 performance is anything to go off, that outcome certainly seems possible. Over 21 starts between High-A and Double-A, Sullivan tossed 115 1/3 innings with a 2.11 ERA and 2.83 FIP. Most impressive was his pinpoint control; he walked just 3.4% of the batters he faced. After a year like that, it’s not hard to understand why the Rockies will give him an extended look this spring.

As for which of Colorado’s veteran starting pitchers could wind up moving to the bullpen, Senzatela might be the most likely possibility. The oft-injured 30-year-old missed almost all of the last two seasons recovering from an ACL reconstruction and Tommy John surgery. His last productive season was in 2021, and even then, he failed to pitch enough to qualify for the ERA title. It would not be surprising to see him struggle in camp after so much time away, in which case it might be best for all involved to ease him back into an MLB role via the bullpen. Márquez is another name to keep an eye on this spring, considering he has also missed most of the last two seasons due to injury. He was durable and reliable for Colorado over the previous six years, so he is likely to have a much longer leash than his fellow Venezuelan right-hander. In other words, the Rockies are highly unlikely to move Márquez to the bullpen. However, if he needs to go back on the injured list, a spot in the rotation would open up.

Rockies Considering Extension For Brenton Doyle

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The Rockies have had “internal discussions” about the possibility of signing center fielder Brenton Doyle to a contract extension, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.  There isn’t any indication that these considerations have led to any actual negotiations with Doyle’s representatives at the Ballengee Group, and given the normal rhythm of spring extension talks, in-depth talks or an official agreement aren’t likely to take place until closer to Opening Day.

Colorado has been pretty proactive over the years about locking up what the franchise views as its cornerstone players, most prominently past mega-deals for such stars as Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, and Nolan Arenado.  The extension trend has continued since Bill Schmidt was officially named as the Rockies GM in October 2021, as the Rox have extended 10 players during Schmidt’s tenure.  The most recent of these pacts came last March, when Ezequiel Tovar was inked to a seven-year extension that will pay the shortstop at least $63.5MM.

Entering his third MLB season, Doyle has already established himself as arguably the game’s best defensive fielder.  Doyle has won the last two NL Gold Glove Awards and he added a Fielding Bible Award to his trophy case in 2024.  An elite throwing arm and elite speed adds to Doyle’s defensive prowess, and he took some important steps towards being a true five-tool talent when he hit .260/.317/.446 with 23 home runs over 603 plate appearances last season.

Factoring in Coors Field’s hitter-friendly nature, Doyle’s offense still checked in at below the league average, with a 97 wRC+.  Still, this was a drastic improvement over the 45 wRC+ he posted over 431 PA during his 2023 rookie season, with Doyle hitting the ball with much more authority in 2024 than he did the previous year.  His 7.6% walk rate and 25.4% strikeout rates remain below average, but the latter number in particular is a quantum leap from Doyle’s 35% strikeout rate in 2023, which was the worst in baseball among any player with at least 400 PA.

The underlying metrics point to substantive year-to-year improvement for Doyle, without too much luck entering the equation — his wOBA and xwOBA were virtually identical in 2024, and his .316 BABIP this year wasn’t far beyond his .295 BABIP in 2023.  A player with Doyle’s speed is likely to have higher BABIPs anyway, and that speed also manifested itself in the form of 30 stolen bases in 35 chances.

Doyle’s glovework is alone enough to merit a spot on a Major League roster, but providing even league-average offense raises his ceiling considerably as a lineup regular.  Since an everyday center fielder is among the rarer commodities in the game, it makes sense that Colorado would be thinking about a long-term commitment relatively early into Doyle’s career.

A fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Doyle is a bit of a late bloomer, as he was just a bit shy of his 25th birthday when he made his MLB debut.  With a year and 161 days of big league service time already amassed, Doyle is on pace to achieve Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility.  This doesn’t change the Rockies’ team control that runs through the 2029 season, but it does line Doyle (who turns 27 in May) up to start earning larger salaries earlier in his career.

An extension would therefore give the Rox some cost certainty on Doyle through those arbitration years, rather than deal with an escalating price tag.  On the other hand, since Doyle is already controlled through his age-31 season, the Rockies might not view an extension as a pressing priority.  Schmidt and his front office might also want a bit more evidence of Doyle’s improvement at the plate before making a multi-year commitment.

From Doyle’s perspective, it would stand to reason that he’d be open to extension talks.  Between his $500K draft signing bonus and minimum salaries in his first two MLB seasons, Doyle might view an extension as a great way to lock in the first fortune of his pro career.  There’s an argument for waiting from Doyle’s side as well, as he’d cash in to an even greater degree on an extension next winter if he can match or top his 2024 offensive numbers in 2025, since surely the Rockies would then be just as eager to solidify his place as a building block on their roster.

A Doyle extension would stand out the biggest transaction of a pretty quiet Rockies offseason, as Colorado hasn’t done much to improve a roster that has lost 204 games over the last two seasons.  While not exactly in a rebuild mode, the Rockies are clearly focusing on their young talent and on better health from several veterans (i.e. Kris Bryant, Antonio Senzatela, German Marquez) in order to make some type of forward progress in 2025.

Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The NL West?

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The calendar has flipped to February and the start of Spring Training is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including nine of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents for the 2024-25 offseason) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. So far, the Mets and Cubs have decisively won the polls covering the NL East and Central respectively. Today, the focus shifts to the NL West.

The west coast represents the class of the National League given that they’ve represented the senior circuit in the World Series in each of the past two seasons. The division has sent at least two teams to the postseason in each of the past five seasons, and this offseason finds three of the club’s five teams firmly in win-now contention windows while a fourth has also begun acting aggressively. Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The reigning World Series champions may have stayed mostly on the sidelines during the bidding for top free agent and $765MM man Juan Soto, but that in no way means they’ve had a quiet offseason. The Dodgers have been one of the league’s most active teams this winter, re-signing Teoscar Hernandez and Blake Treinen, extending Tommy Edman, and also making a number of additions in free agency. The club kicked off the winter by poaching lefty Blake Snell from their division rivals in San Francisco and haven’t let up since, adding Michael Conforto to the outfield and Hyeseong Kim to the infield while bolstering the bullpen with both Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, arguably the two best closers available in this winter’s market.

The most notable addition of the winter for Los Angeles, however, was surely longtime NPB phenom Roki Sasaki, who was posted despite not yet being eligible for anything more than a minor league contract and international bonus pool money. Getting Sasaki under such favorable terms would be a coup for any team, and it only serves to strengthen the Dodgers further. That’s not to say their offseason has been flawless, however. Their roster crunch reached a point where they had to sell off some of their less-necessary 40-man prospects and depth pieces like Diego Cartaya, Gavin Lux, and Ryan Brasier. Aside from that, the club’s biggest question mark in 2025 was the shortstop position, and that remains largely unaddressed as the club plans to give veteran star Mookie Betts another run at the position despite his lack of experience there. Even with a potential hole at short if Betts is unable to handle the position, however, the Dodgers have set themselves up well as they look to defend their World Series title in 2025.

San Diego Padres

It’s been a quiet and disappointing offseason in San Diego amid discord within the club’s ownership group and a clear budget crunch that has hampered president of baseball operations A.J. Preller all throughout the winter. The departures of Scott, Jurickson Profar, Donovan Solano, and Ha-Seong Kim in free agency have left the club’s strong core without much of its supporting cast, and San Diego’s hopes of landing Sasaki were dashed by their rivals in L.A. despite a strong push that made them a finalist. The club’s only big league signing to this point in the winter has been re-signing Elias Diaz to help shore things up behind the plate. It’s a welcome addition but hardly a needle mover, and it seems as though the Padres may not be able to make more impactful additions without trading a player like Dylan Cease or Luis Arraez to clear salary.

Arizona Diamondbacks

After missing the playoffs by just a hair in 2024, the 2023 NL champions have not been resting on their laurels this winter. The club re-upped with Randal Grichuk yesterday to keep a key right-handed bat in the outfield mix, and while the losses of Joc Pederson, Christian Walker, and Josh Bell to free agency are all sure to sting the lineup the addition of Josh Naylor in a trade with the Guardians should help to ease that blow considerably. By far the club’s most notable addition, however, is that of Corbin Burnes. Arizona managed to reel in the offseason’s top pitching free agent on a surprisingly favorable six-year guarantee, and the 2021 NL Cy Young award winner will now join Zac Gallen at the top of an already-strong rotation that also features Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, and Jordan Montgomery. With that being said, the club still has one major question mark in the lineup after letting Pederson’s role as the regular DH go as-of-yet unfilled, and the club’s efforts to add a closer to their relief corps have not yet come to fruition either.

San Francisco Giants

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Giants’ offseason is highlighted by one major, splashy signing: they added shortstop Willy Adames to their infield on the largest free agent contract in club history, pairing him with recently-extended third baseman Matt Chapman to form a dynamic duo on the left side of the infield for years to come. Aside from that signing, perhaps the biggest addition to the Giants organization of the offseason was longtime franchise face Buster Posey taking over for the exiting Farhan Zaidi as president of baseball operations.

Since adding Adames just before the Winter Meetings, however, things have been fairly quiet in San Francisco. Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander was brought in to help Logan Webb anchor the rotation after Snell departed for Los Angeles, but Verlander turns 42 later this month and it’s fair to wonder how much he has left in the tank after a difficult 2024 season. That appears to be all the club plans to do this winter, as Posey recently suggested that the organization feels “pretty set” with their offseason moves despite departures like Michael Conforto and Taylor Rogers having gone as-of-yet unanswered.

Colorado Rockies

Coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons, the Rockies have continued to eschew the full rebuild strategy other bottom-feeders like the White Sox and Marlins have taken up in favor of retaining their veteran players to serve as a bridge to their younger pieces. That’s led to extremely quiet offseasons in recent years, and this one has been no exception to that. The club added some infield depth by signing Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer to one-year deals as they look to replace Brendan Rodgers, but those are the club’s only big league free agent additions of the winter.

Arguably their most impactful move was re-signing catcher Jacob Stallings on the heels of an excellent rebound season with the club last year, and he should help to solidify the catcher position until well-regarded prospect Drew Romo is ready to take over regular catching duties. The pitching staff has been almost entirely unaltered aside from the departures of Daniel Bard and Cal Quantrill, however, and there hasn’t been a bat brought in to replace the production of retiring franchise stalwart Charlie Blackmon.

__________________________________________________________

This offseason has been a bit of a mixed bag around the NL West, with three of its five clubs making multiple major additions to the roster but the other two having done very little to this point in terms of either buy-side or sell-side moves, instead largely remaining stagnant. The Dodgers have been, unsurprisingly, the most active club of the winter both within the division and arguably in baseball as a whole. With that said, however, Arizona’s coup in bringing Burnes into the fold and San Francisco’s record-setting deal for Adames are strong moves that could catapult either club back into the postseason after missing out last year. Colorado’s trend of modest offseasons has continued, however, and with the caveat that Preller can never be counted out when it comes to making bold moves, it seems that the Padres have elected to join them in that quiet approach to this point in the offseason.

Of the five NL West clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

Rockies Sign Tommy Doyle To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies recently announced a batch of non-roster invitees to spring training, including several of the club’s incumbent prospects and previously reported minor league signees. One new name on the list was right-hander Tommy Doyle.

Doyle, 29 in May, is a familiar face for the organization but was elsewhere in 2024. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta going into last year and spent most of 2024 with Triple-A Gwinnett. He logged 40 1/3 innings for that club, allowing 3.57 earned runs per nine. He paired a 24.9% strikeout rate with a 9.8% walk rate. Despite those fairly solid numbers, he never got the call to join the big league club.

Prior to that, Doyle had spent his entire career with the Rockies. He was drafted by Colorado in 2017 and was in the organization through the end of 2023. He managed to toss 26 big league innings, though he allowed 24 earned runs, giving him an unsightly 8.31 ERA at the moment.

That’s obviously a small sample size and Doyle put up much better numbers on the farm. He tossed 161 2/3 innings across various minor league levels during his previous time in the Rockies’ organization, with a 3.56 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate.

The Rockies have a fairly wide open relief mix at the moment. Of the eight guys projected by RosterResource to be in the Opening Day bullpen, Tyler Kinley and Justin Lawrence are the only two with more than 100 innings in the big leagues. They are also the only two that can’t be sent to the minors. As the club continues its ongoing rebuild, plenty of young arms will get opportunities this year but not all of them will succeed.

Doyle gives the club another depth option to potentially rely on throughout the year. If he gets added to the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining, which would allow the club to shuttle him between the majors and minors with regularity. He also has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained beyond this year if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.

What Other Competitive Balance Round Draft Picks Could Be Traded This Winter?

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The Competitive Balance Rounds are a pair of bonus rounds within the MLB draft, designed to give an extra pick to the game’s smaller-market teams.  Teams that fall within either the bottom 10 in revenues and market size are eligible, and since 2017, the league determined the eligible teams based on a formula involving market score, revenues, and winning percentage.  The first of the two Competitive Balance Rounds (CBR-A) comes right before the start of the second round, and CBR-B comes right after the second round.  For the 2025 draft, a total of 15 teams will gain an extra pick, and their order within their respective round is determined by their win totals in the 2024 season.

With that explanation out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff — these picks can be traded.  Specifically, a CBR selection can traded exactly once, and to any team in the league.  Since these are the only MLB draft picks that are eligible to be dealt, it has become increasingly common to see teams move these extra selections as part of larger trade packages for established talent.

Three CBR picks in the 2024 draft changed hands due to trades, most prominently the Orioles’ inclusion of the 34th overall selection as part of the trade package sent to the Brewers for Corbin Burnes.  This offseason has already seen three CBR picks in the 2025 draft dealt, and this post will explore the possibility that some other teams with CBR selections might move these picks to fill a more immediate need.

To cover the broad reason why any of these teams might not make a trade, it’s simply that draft picks are a very valuable asset unto themselves.  Controllable young talent is particularly important for lower-revenue clubs that usually don’t splurge on expensive free agents or trade targets, which is part of the reasons why the Competitive Balance Rounds exist in the first place.  Clubs are naturally pretty reluctant to move these CBR picks unless the right opportunity presents itself on the trade market.

(First, some notes on the draft order.  The first 75 places in the 2025 draft have largely been established, since the remaining free agents who rejected qualifying offers all played for teams who were either luxury-tax payors in 2024, or aren’t revenue-sharing recipients.  That means that if Nick Pivetta signs elsewhere, the Red Sox will get their compensation pick after CBR-B.  If Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman sign elsewhere, the Mets’ and Astros’ compensation picks will fall after the fourth round.  Also, because the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers all exceeded the second luxury-tax tier in 2024, their first-round picks were dropped by 10 spots in the draft order.  This means that these three big spenders are all technically selecting within CBR-A, but obviously these aren’t official CBR picks.  The only potential change would be if a team that signs Alonso, Bregman or Pivetta surrenders its second-round pick to do so.)

Onto the selections….

Brewers (33rd overall, CBR-A): Milwaukee is actually making consecutive picks in the draft, as they received a compensatory pick when Willy Adames rejected the team’s qualifying offer and signed with the Giants.  Owning the 32nd overall pick might make the Brew Crew slightly more opening to trading the 33rd overall pick, perhaps to add pitching or to the infield in the wake of Adames’ departure.  The Brewers could considering adding their CBR pick as a sweetener to try and move Rhys Hoskins’ contract, yet it’s less likely that the team moves a valuable draft selection just as part of a salary dump.

Tigers (34th overall, CBR-A): The Tigers are considered to be one of the top suitors remaining for Alex Bregman, and signing a qualified free agent would cost the Tigers their third-highest pick in the 2025 draft.  Losing the 63rd overall pick means the Tigers almost surely wouldn’t also deal their CBR pick.  If Bregman signed elsewhere, it’s more plausible that Detroit could consider trading its CBR pick for a big right-handed bat, but still probably on the unlikely side.

Mariners (35th overall, CBR-A): It was almost exactly a year ago that the M’s traded their CBR-B pick in the 2024 draft to the White Sox as part of the Gregory Santos deal.  Santos’ injury-plagued first season in Seattle could make the Mariners more hesitant to an even higher CBR selection, yet this tradable pick might an asset the M’s can use within an overall difficult offseason market for the team.  The Mariners are working with limited payroll space and most every team in baseball would prefer win-now help over prospects, seemingly leaving the M’s dealing with a lot of offers for their starting pitchers.  With Seattle so reluctant to deal from its excellent rotation, offering up the 35th overall pick in trade talks might help get things moving.

Twins (36th overall, CBR-A): Speaking of front offices without much financial flexibility, Minnesota has had a very quiet offseason, with most of the headlines focused on a potential sale of the franchise rather than any significant roster moves.  With reportedly around only $5MM or so in payroll space, the Twins might have to make some trades just to free up more money for more trade possibilities.  Moving the CBR-A pick could be added to the Twins’ list of possibilities, but the team has enough potential trade candidates on the active roster that moving a big league-ready player is probably their preference over dealing away a draft pick.

Rays (37th overall, CBR-A): It might not come as much surprise that Tampa is the team that has acquired the most CBR picks over the last seven seasons.  As you’ll see shortly, the Rays added to that total with the 42nd overall pick of the 2025 draft.  Like with the Brewers and the Adames compensatory selection, having an “extra” pick in a sense might make the Rays more open to dealing this pick here, but that hasn’t been Tampa Bay’s style.

Reds (now Dodgers, 41st overall, CBR-A): This pick was already moved, as Cincinnati traded its selection along with outfield prospect Mike Sirota to Los Angeles in exchange for Gavin Lux.

Athletics (now Rays, 42nd overall, CBR-A): Another swapped pick, as the A’s moved the 42nd overall pick to Tampa Bay as part of the Jeffrey Springs trade.  This move in particular highlights the speculative nature of this post, since going into the offseason, the Athletics seemingly wouldn’t have been on the radar as a team likely to trade its CBR pick.

Marlins (43th overall, CBR-A): There’s basically zero chance the Fish move a draft pick in the midst of their extensive rebuild.

Guardians (70th overall, CBR-B): The reigning AL Central champs have generally gone chalk with their CBR selections, not acquiring or trading any picks until this year.  Adding an experienced outfielder or middle infielder for the 70th pick might work on paper, as the Guards are another team with two CBR selections and not much spending capacity to address its roster needs.

Orioles (71st overall, CBR-B): The idea for this post came about after writing another piece yesterday about how the O’s might be well-suited to trade this pick.

Diamondbacks (now Guardians, 72nd overall, CBR-B): Arizona sent the 72nd pick and Slade Cecconi to Cleveland to bring Josh Naylor to the desert.

Royals (73rd overall, CBR-B): Kansas City traded its CBR-A selection just hours before the 2024 draft began, moving the 39th overall pick and third base prospect Cayden Wallace to the Nationals for Hunter Harvey.  While Harvey battled injuries and wasn’t much of a help in the Royals’ run to the ALDS, the fact that the team made such an aggressive midseason deal in pursuit of a playoff spot might hint that the front office is willing to make another bold swap involving this pick.  Outfield help remains the Royals’ biggest need at this point in the winter.

Cardinals (74th overall, CBR-B): Outgoing president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has spoken about wanting to leave a “clean slate” for new PBO Chaim Bloom.  Between that and the Cardinals’ stated goal of refocusing on player development, it seems unlikely St. Louis would look to move its CBR pick.

Pirates (75th overall, CBR-B): The Bucs have had a relatively quiet offseason, with the team’s typical lack of big spending.  In theory, trading a CBR pick might be a helpful way for the Pirates to add talent without breaking the budget, though Ben Cherington has yet to explore this tactic during his time as Pittsburgh’s general manager.

Rockies (76th overall, CBR-B): While the Rockies aren’t technically in an official rebuild, they’re not exactly building up after losing 204 games over the last two seasons.  Using this pick to add another young player to the farm system seems far more likely than the Rox trading the pick away.

Rockies Notes: Marquez, Relief Pitching, Condon

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Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt spoke with reporters (including the Denver Post’s Kyle Newman and Just Baseball Media’s Patrick Lyons) at the “Rockies Fest” fan event this weekend, addressing such topics as the health of several notable Colorado players.  German Marquez was one of those players, as Schmidt said the right-hander is recovered from the stress reaction in his right elbow that prematurely ended Marquez’s 2024 season.

Injuries have limited Marquez to five starts and just 24 innings for the Rox over the last two seasons.  The bulk of that injury layoff came in the form of Tommy John rehab, after Marquez underwent the procedure in May 2023.  He made it back to the big leagues by July of last season, but Marquez’s return lasted just a single game, and four innings in Colorado’s 8-5 win over the Mets on July 14.  Elbow inflammation soon sent Marquez to the 15-day IL after that one outing, and the stress reaction was discovered shortly thereafter.

Marquez has spent all nine of his Major League seasons with the Rockies, posting a 4.40 ERA over 996 innings from 2016-22.  The Rockies acknowledged Marquez’s durability and success at handling Coors Field with a five-year, $43MM contract extension in April 2019, with a $16MM club option for the 2024 campaign.  The option never ended up coming into play, as Marquez inked a new two-year, $20MM deal with Colorado in September 2023 that covered the 2024-25 seasons, and gave both sides a little more flexibility as Marquez recovered from his TJ surgery.

With the first season of that deal unfortunately going down as a wash, Marquez now faces extra pressure as an impending free agent.  Marquez’s first priority is just getting healthy and getting back onto a mound, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rockies make a move to lock him up on another extension if he pitches well in the early part of the season.  Despite his lengthy track record in the majors, Marquez doesn’t turn 30 years old until next month.

Any kind of rotation stability is sorely needed in Denver, both due to the infamous thin-air conditions and because of how hard the Rox have been hit by pitching injuries over the last few years.  Marquez is penciled into a rotation that also includes Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, Kyle Freeland, and Antonio Senzatela (who also missed most of 2023-24 due to Tommy John rehab).  Between this group and some Triple-A arms nearing their big league debuts, Schmidt is hopeful the Rockies have amassed enough depth to withstand any further injuries or any struggles from the regular starters.

Some more pitching could be on the way in the form of relievers, as Schmidt indicated that the Rockies could yet add to their bullpen before Spring Training.  Diego Castillo, Jimmy Herget, Tommy Doyle, and Jake Woodford are among the pitchers with MLB experience who have been brought into the organization on minor league deals or waiver claims, and it remains to be seen if the Rockies’ pitching explorations will lead to any guaranteed contracts for bullpen help.

Infielders Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer are the only players the Rox have signed to guaranteed deals, both brought into the fold on one-year contracts.  It isn’t necessarily surprising that a team coming off 204 losses in the last two seasons isn’t aggressively spending, but the Rockies are continuing their unusual path of not entirely rebuilding, but also clearly focusing on younger talent.

Charlie Condon is one of those key building blocks for the future, and Schmidt said the team hadn’t yet decided where Charlie Condon will play in the minor leagues next season.  The third overall pick of the 2024 draft began his pro career in inauspicious fashion by hitting only .180/.248/.270 over 109 plate appearances for high-A Spokane, but Schmidt said Condon was trying to play through a bruised thumb that “he kind of didn’t tell us” about.

This injury could well explain those struggles, even though it isn’t unusual for even star prospects to face some growing pains in their first taste of professional baseball.  Condon was also moving right into his pro career on the heels of 60 games with Georgia during the 2024 NCAA season, with Condon crushing college pitching to the tune of a .433/.556/1.009 slash line and 37 homers over 304 PA.  In recently-released top-100 lists, MLB Pipeline rated Condon as the 29th-best prospect in the sport, and Baseball America ranked him 42nd.

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