Hunter Goodman has gone from bargain-bin production to the kind of player the Rockies are going to have to pay for.
MLB Trade Rumors released its annual salary arbitration projections on Friday, and Colorado’s two-time All-Star is sitting at the top of the list among the team’s six arbitration-eligible players. Goodman is projected to make $6.2 million in his first trip through arbitration, a figure that would top the $5 million salaries Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story received when they were first-time arbitration-eligible players with the Rockies, according to Rockies Insider Patrick Lyons.
That number fits the résumé Goodman just put together. After a breakout 2025, the 26-year-old backed it up with another big season in 2026, finishing at .245/.310/.529 with 41 home runs and 88 RBI over 138 games. He ranked third in the National League in home runs and second in slugging percentage, then earned his second straight All-Star nod.
He finished the year with one last burst of power in the final series of the 2026 season against the Chicago White Sox, when the Rockies were focused on looking ahead to 2027 and evaluating prospects. Goodman had bigger numbers to chase. He launched his 40th and 41st homers in the same game, becoming just the eighth primary catcher in Major League history to reach 40 home runs in a season.
He also set a new National League record for a primary catcher with 25 road home runs, passing Johnny Bench.
Goodman spent his early years in the majors earning close to the league minimum, but that part of the story is over now. His production has pushed him into a much different salary bracket, and the projected jump to $6.2 million for 2027 reflects that.
The Rockies have other arbitration calls to make, too. Jake McCarthy is next at $4.6 million after a breakout year in 2026.
Ryan Feltner is projected at $3.8 million after finishing with a 5.40 ERA and moving into a multi-inning relief role late in the season. Jimmy Herget comes in at $2.4 million, Brennan Bernardino at $1.6 million and Jordan Beck at $1.2 million.
Colorado still has until the November 20 deadline to decide whether to tender each arbitration-eligible player a contract. But Goodman is the easy one. In a rebuild that’s searching for young pieces who can matter in Denver, he’s already answered the question of whether he belongs in the next core.
He followed a 31-homer season in 2025 with a record-setting 40-homer campaign in 2026, and at the projected price, he still looks like one of the best values on the roster. Paying Hunter Goodman isn’t one of the Rockies’ hard decisions this winter.
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