The Colorado Rockies had a deadline problem, and it started with Hunter Goodman.
Sitting at the bottom of the National League West with a 45-68 record, Colorado chose not to move its most valuable trade chip at the 2026 MLB trade deadline. That’s the move that stands out above the rest. The Rockies did deal Brenton Doyle, Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik for modest prospect returns, but leaving Goodman untouched was the clearest miss of the day.
Goodman had become exactly the kind of player rebuilding teams are supposed to cash in on when the market is hot. Before the All-Star break, he hit 27 home runs, the most by any National League catcher since Johnny Bench in 1970. He’s now at .256 with 33 homers, 66 RBIs and an .878 OPS, production that put him squarely on rival teams’ radar.
And this wasn’t just a loud first half with no substance underneath it. Executives around the league saw him as a rare two-way option behind the plate, and the Statcast numbers back up the breakout: a 43.1% hard-hit rate and a .375 wOBA. That’s the kind of profile that makes teams believe the bat can keep playing.
That’s also why the timing mattered so much. Catchers producing like this do not stay available for long, and Goodman’s value may never have been higher.
He remains under team control through the 2029 season, which only adds to the frustration here. Colorado had years of control to market if it wanted to maximize the return, but the deadline came and went without the Rockies seriously putting him in play.
The club has said publicly there was no mandate to move anyone, but that position doesn’t square well with the reality of the record. Since Goodman’s 2023 debut, Colorado is 156-305.
That’s not a team on the edge of anything. It’s a team that should be collecting young talent wherever it can find it, and Goodman was the best ticket to do that.
Instead, the Rockies walked away with lesser returns from the Doyle, Senzatela and Vodnik deals and kept their biggest asset off the market. For a rebuilding club, that’s a hard choice to defend.
There’s another wrinkle too: Goodman’s numbers at Coors Field are not as strong as they are on the road. At home, he’s hitting .238 with a .524 SLG, while his road production has been better at .273 with a stronger SLG.
For clubs already trying to sort out how much of the power is tied to the ballpark, that kind of split could make the case for moving him even stronger, not weaker. Waiting only risked letting the value slip.
The situation gets messier because Colorado still hasn’t opened extension talks with Goodman, even though he’s open to a long-term deal. So the Rockies have neither secured him for the future nor turned him into the kind of prospect package that could speed up the rebuild. That’s the worst possible middle ground.
At 26, with peak value on the table and a club that’s going nowhere, Goodman was the obvious name to move. Colorado didn’t do it. And if the front office doesn’t act soon - either by locking him up or by finally using that trade value - this deadline may be remembered as the moment the Rockies let their best asset’s worth drift away.
In Other News...
Rockies Finally Made A Deadline Move That Says Plenty About Their Reset
For a Rockies club looking to reshape its future as much as its roster, the deadline brought a move that fit the moment. Antonio Senzatela had already shifted into a bullpen role this season, and the adjustment seemed to help him, with his fastball ticking up and his overall effectiveness improving. Even so, Colorado used him as part of a deal that adds a pair of lower-level pieces with different kinds of appeal, signaling a front office still sorting through what it wants this reset to become.
Juan Martinez arrives as a 19-year-old infielder whose value starts with contact, while Mark Manfredi brings a left-handed arm and some experience working at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. For the Rockies, it is the kind of deadline move that does not scream immediate help, but does say plenty about where the organization is placing its attention now, and where it hopes to find answers later. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Fans Just Got A Clear Sign Of DePodestas Plan
The Trade Deadline gave Colorado a fresh look at where the front office wants to go next, and it came with a clear shift in direction. Paul DePodestas first major deadline posture as president of baseball operations centered on moving established big-league pieces and bringing back a crop of prospects, the kind of turnover that signals the Rockies are thinking well beyond the current standings.
The returns were headlined by right-hander Nick Frasso and Single-A outfielder Landyn Vidourek, along with other prospects, giving the organization more development pieces to work with. DePodesta also addressed the deals and the possible impact of the newcomers, leaving Rockies fans with a better sense of the plan even if the immediate on-field payoff is still something the club has to build toward. [Read more 🡒]