The Colorado Rockies know exactly where the problem is.
After a fourth straight 100-loss season, the organization has plenty to sort through, but the pitching staff sits at the center of it all. The lineup had real bright spots, with Hunter Goodman and TJ Rumfield both emerging as NL Rookie of the Year contenders and giving the club meaningful production across the season.
Offensively, this team should not have lost 104 games. The trouble was that the bats were too often forced to play catch-up because the rotation was so rough, especially after the trade deadline, when the starters posted a 7.00 ERA.
That reality is pushing the Rockies toward change. Denver Post columnist Troy Renck spoke with president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta about how the team plans to handle the issue, and DePodesta made it clear the club will have to think differently about roster construction.
"We have to be open-minded. We have to look for answers.
And we have to be creative in how we do it. But 5 starters, 8 relievers- that is less likely to be successful here than in other places," stated DePodesta.
Renck also reported that the pitching plan could shift depending on health and which relievers have options.
For Colorado, the challenge now is finding enough support for a lineup that showed real promise. Otherwise, the organization risks wasting what Goodman and Rumfield started, along with Cole Carrigg, Mickey Moniak, and others.
The season’s clearest illustration came with Michael Lorenzen. Colorado signed him to a one-year, $8 million deal, but his work never stabilized enough to keep him on the roster. He was designated for assignment late in the summer, and he will not be back.
The Rockies already know pitching at Coors Field is a tough sell. Now DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes have to find a way to make it work anyway.
In Other News...
Rockies 2027 Outlook May Come Down To 2 Young Bats
A lot of the Rockies conversation about 2027 starts with youth, and two names keep rising to the top of that picture in Zac Veen and Condon. Veen, now 24, looked like a player who had steadied himself after a rough 2025 by turning in a strong 2026 campaign, and he is expected to be on the 40-man roster with a chance to help early next season. For a club that has spent years searching for more impact bats, that kind of internal answer matters.
Condon, meanwhile, gives Colorado another reason to believe the lineup could look different by then. The 23-year-old finished last season with notable power-hitting production and is projected to arrive as a starter in 2027, with the flexibility to move around the diamond. If both players take the next step, the Rockies may not just be hoping for offensive growth - they may be building their 2027 identity around it. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Arbitration Call Could Create An Unexpected Trade Debate
The Rockies are heading into the winter with the kind of arbitration decisions that can quietly shape the rest of the roster. Herget, Jake McCarthy and Ryan Feltner all look positioned to get tendered contracts, and the expected raises for each reflect both recent performance and the usual framework of comparable cases that front offices use to set prices. For a club trying to balance present usefulness with future flexibility, these calls are about more than just settling a salary number.
What makes the process more interesting is how it could spill beyond the usual paperwork stage. Contract extensions are part of the conversation, but so are possible trades, especially with McCarthy and Feltner drawing the kind of attention that can turn a routine tender season into a broader roster debate. The Rockies do not have to move quickly, but these decisions may end up revealing how willing they are to keep talent in place versus using it as leverage for something else. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Draft Class Is Already Creating One Big Debate Among Fans
Baseball Americas 2025 MLB Draft report card for the Rockies has already given fans plenty to pick apart, because it frames this class in terms that are easy to debate and even easier to compare. The breakdown runs through 11 superlatives across the haul, touching on everything from the best pure hitter to the best power hitter and the best fastball, with names like Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell, Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson and Mississippi State right-hander Ben Davis standing out in specific categories.
For a club that always gets scrutinized closely for how it builds from the draft, the appeal here is in the mix more than any single pick. Baseball America also pointed to players who turned in promising pro debuts and a few with especially intriguing backgrounds, while noting the prospects viewed as closest to the majors. In other words, the class already has enough texture to fuel arguments about ceiling, floor and who might move fastest through the system, even if the real answer will take a while to settle in. [Read more 🡒]