How much the Rockies can truly spend this offseason is anybody’s guess, and that’s what makes the whole picture so murky.
On paper, Colorado enters the 2027 campaign with some breathing room. The club has about $48.9 million in guaranteed commitments already on the books, a figure that covers salaries but does not account for arbitration or the cost of filling out the roster.
Kris Bryant sits at the center of that financial mess, due $27 million annually in what the source calls the worst contract in the history of the organization, and maybe even all of baseball, despite never taking the field. Ezequiel Tovar and Mickey Moniak also have guaranteed money coming in for 2027.
At the same time, several veteran deals are set to come off the books, including Kyle Freeland, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. That should create more flexibility for president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta than the Rockies have had in years. But flexibility and spending power are not the same thing, especially with this franchise.
Colorado’s 2026 season ended at 58-104, which means the Rockies are coming off a fourth straight year of 100-plus losses. The roster needs work everywhere, and the offseason math only gets trickier once arbitration enters the equation. Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, Ryan Feltner and others are eligible, and significant raises for that group will have to be baked into the budget before anyone can figure out what is actually available.
The ownership situation adds another layer. In April, Penner Sports Group, the ownership entity led by Greg and Carrie Penner, bought a minority stake in the team.
For Denver fans, that offered a glimmer of hope because the Penners are also behind the Broncos. Still, it’s too soon to know what that investment will really mean for the Rockies.
The Monfort family remains in charge as the majority owner, with Dick and Charlie Monfort still involved. Walker Monfort was pushed into a more visible role at the start of 2026 and took over much of the day-to-day from his father.
The Penners bring a reputation for investing in organizational infrastructure, leadership and long-term operations, and if that approach carries over, it could help in a few different areas. But having resources and actually using them on payroll are two different things.
Colorado has already lived through the risk of big spending with little payoff. Bryant’s seven-year, $182 million deal is the clearest example. And in 2026, DePodesta’s first run in charge showed the other side of the equation: the Rockies signed several one-year deals to steady the pitching staff, then finished with the worst ERA in baseball.
That leaves DePodesta facing a tough balancing act. The Rockies need space for young players to grow, but they also need enough spending to start digging out of the hole.
Hunter Goodman, TJ Rumfield and Jake McCarthy are names that point to some progress in the rebuild. The pitching staff, though, is still the biggest problem.
Starting pitching is the obvious priority, and the Rockies will need experienced arms who can help right away. That is never easy in Colorado, where the altitude has long been a nightmare for pitchers.
The organization also has to wait and see how upcoming negotiations between the MLBPA and the owners affect the broader financial landscape. A minimum salary, along with the cap and the floor, could all change the numbers.
So the Rockies do have money coming off the books. They do have new ownership resources in the picture.
And DePodesta should have a better read on what the organization needs. But the biggest question still hangs there: how much will ownership actually allow him to spend?
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