Jake McCarthy gave the Rockies exactly what they were hoping for when they brought him in, and that may be why he’s now part of a much bigger conversation.
The outfielder arrived Jan. 10 from the Diamondbacks in a deal for Minor League pitcher Josh Grosz, one of the first moves made by the front office that took over in Denver last winter. McCarthy wasn’t brought in to be a headline-grabbing star. He was brought in to fit a plan: use speed, cover ground in Coors Field’s big outfield and make enough contact to create offense without relying on the long ball.
That idea held up. McCarthy became a steady leadoff presence, and the Rockies got proof that their offense could look different without being built around home runs alone.
“I look at this time last year, and it was a completely different situation, different team. So I’m very grateful for this opportunity to showcase and try to help this team win,” McCarthy said as the season ended in Chicago. “We want to win more games, and I think there are things I can do to help the team at the top of the order and defensively.”
But the Rockies are coming off a 58-104 season, and that changes the math. A player can be useful and still be the kind of asset a team has to consider moving, especially when the roster has a glaring need elsewhere. For Colorado, that need is starting pitching.
That issue was front and center again as the General Managers Meetings opened Tuesday in Las Vegas. Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta made it clear the search for arms is not a side project.
“It's a huge point of emphasis. There's no doubt,” DePodesta said.
“We need more starting pitching, and I think we need to look at every possible avenue that we have to acquire [it]. I don't think it'll all be solved with just one avenue … [maybe] like ‘Hey, lets just go sign a few free agents or just or trade for a few guys.’
But I think you know we'll look at all those different ways that we can acquire talent. … Certainly, starting pitching is going to be an emphasis in all those areas.”
That leaves McCarthy in a tricky spot. He’s 29, under club control through ’28, and avoided salary arbitration last winter with a $1.53 million deal for 2026. He’s also the kind of player a team can convince itself to keep, because he helps in obvious ways and still has value beyond the box score.
The Rockies had less immediate pressure to move him at the Trade Deadline in early August, in part because many contenders were chasing right-handed-hitting outfielders. Players such as Jo Adell, Heliot Ramos, Taylor Ward and former Rockies outfielder Randal Grichuk all changed teams.
Colorado also made its own outfield decisions. The Rockies traded righty-hitting center fielder Brenton Doyle to the White Sox, kept McCarthy and later signed left-handed hitter Mickey Moniak to a two-year, $16.5 million extension through 2028.
What McCarthy did on the field only sharpened the debate. He finished eighth in the National League with a .291 batting average while filling the leadoff spot. He also piled up 13 triples, second in MLB behind only Corbin Carroll’s 17, and stole 32 bases, seventh in the NL and the most by a Rockies player since Charlie Blackmon’s 43 in 2015.
Add in 15 homers and 30 doubles, and McCarthy became the first Rockies player since Blackmon in 2017 to post at least 30 doubles, 15 homers and 10 triples while also swiping at least 30 bags. That production helped lift an offense that went from one of baseball’s worst in 2025 to one that finished in the top 10 in many key categories in ’26.
Now the question is whether the Rockies should use that kind of player to chase the thing they still lack most.
DePodesta said the club has to keep an open mind.
“Especially if we are going to be potentially looking at trades for pitching, I think we have to be open to it, whether it's from our current big league club or from our Minor League system,” DePodesta said. “In areas where we have some depth, that could make some sense.
But I think we have to be open to it. Now, some of the position players we have will be much harder for us to trade because we feel like that's a strength.
So we want to be careful about not taking too much away from that, but yeah, I think we have to be open-minded.”
There’s also a broader layer to McCarthy’s value, one that doesn’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet. If the Rockies are looking for a model of how lower-spending clubs stay relevant, the Brewers and Rays offer one. In that kind of environment, the way a player fits the culture matters too.
McCarthy’s own comments at season’s end sounded like a player focused on more than just his own line.
“There are things I can do to help the team at the top of the order, defensively and on the basepaths -- a lot of other parts of my game that need improvement,” McCarthy said. “I’m going to put the work in, plus see where this team is heading.
”We’re a better team than what we showed toward the end of the year. I think we now understand the grind of a 162-game season. We want to get to where we want to be, finishing a season playing meaningful games in September.”
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