MLB’s early 2027 power rankings put the Rockies at the very bottom, and on the surface it’s easy to see why. Colorado just finished with 104 losses, and its 5.59 team ERA was the highest in baseball. That kind of pitching line drags a club straight to the basement.
But the Rockies aren’t empty-handed. There’s enough young offensive talent here to at least make the “worst team in baseball” label feel a little too neat.
Hunter Goodman led the way with 41 home runs and carried much of Colorado’s attack. TJ Rumfield turned in a strong rookie season with a .300/.390/.453 slash line, while Cole Carrigg and Jake McCarthy were also major contributors.
None of that means the lineup is finished product. Goodman still has to cut down on strikeouts, Rumfield needs to add exit velocity and more power, and Carrigg and McCarthy could both stand to draw more walks.
Still, the pieces are there for growth.
That matters because the team directly above Colorado in MLB’s rankings, the Angels, comes with a very different kind of problem. Los Angeles lost 100 games and finished last in its division by a wide margin, so the records are in the same neighborhood. But the Angels were much better on the run-prevention side, posting a 4.29 team ERA.
The trouble was the offense. Los Angeles had the worst OPS in baseball at .679, while Colorado finished fifth-highest at .739.
The Angels had only one player with an OPS of .800 or better: Mike Trout. Trout and Zach Neto are still useful pieces, but Trout is nowhere near the force he was in the 2010s, and Neto took a slight step back at the plate from last season.
Ballpark context also matters here. Colorado’s hitters get a boost from Coors Field, and Baseball-Reference shows the Angels actually had a higher OPS+ at 94 than the Rockies at 92.
That softens some of the criticism aimed at Los Angeles’ bats. At the same time, Coors Field makes life harder on Colorado’s pitchers, so the Rockies’ ugly ERA doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Even with that caveat, the bigger separation between these two clubs comes down to the future. Colorado has several young players already in the majors, more prospects climbing, and Kris Bryant’s contract set to expire after the 2028 season. The Angels, meanwhile, have more complicated roster questions and heavier financial baggage.
Trout’s deal runs through 2030 and pays him $37.1 million per year, which is about a quarter of the Angels’ projected payroll for 2027. Given his injury history and the drop-off from his peak, that contract looms over everything they do. Los Angeles also has Zach Neto as its biggest young piece and only two players in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, compared to Colorado’s four.
The Rockies still have obvious work to do, especially on the pitching side. That remains the biggest issue and the one they have to attack this offseason. But when you look at the young hitters already in place and compare that to the uncertainty surrounding the Angels, Colorado has a real shot to finish ahead of Los Angeles in 2027.
Neither team is close to contention yet. There’s a long climb ahead for both.
In Other News...
Rockies Are Betting Ethan Katz Can Fix What Never Gets Fixed
The Rockies are making another swing at solving their pitching problem, this time by bringing in Ethan Katz as their new pitching coach. Katz arrives with a decade of coaching experience and six major league seasons on his rsum, and he steps into a job that has become one of the organizations most persistent pressure points as Colorado tries to build something sturdier on the mound.
For president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, the hire fits into a broader effort to address a staff that has struggled to keep ERAs in a workable range in recent seasons. The hope is not just about short-term cleanup, either. Colorado wants Katz to help shape its young pitchers and give the group a clearer developmental path, even if the Rockies have heard versions of that promise before. [Read more 🡒]