The Rockies have yet to make any significant moves since Paul DePodesta assumed control of baseball operations two months ago. They’re one of two teams that has yet to sign a free agent to a major league deal. Unlike the Red Sox (the other team for which that’s the case), Colorado hasn’t done much via trade either. Their only moves on the trade front were to acquire lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino from Boston and to deal former first-round pick Ryan Rolison away for cash.
A quiet offseason was always to be expected for a new executive working with one of the worst rosters in MLB history. The Rox aren’t going to invest much in the 2026 team. They don’t have many productive veterans to dangle on the trade market. The exception might be in the outfield, as DePodesta hinted that he could subtract from that area to try to add controllable pitching.
Let’s look at the possibilities.
Doyle probably has the highest ceiling of Colorado’s outfielders. He may also be the least likely to move. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last month that the Rox were reluctant to sell low on the 27-year-old center fielder. Doyle is under arbitration control for four seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.2MM salary.
A stellar defensive player, Doyle has been a target for teams looking for help in a thin center fielder market. The question is whether he’s capable of providing anything at the plate. Doyle looked to have taken a step forward in 2024. He hit 23 homers while cutting his strikeout rate nearly 10 percentage points from his 35% mark as a rookie. The bat dramatically regressed last year, as he stumbled to a .233/.274/.376 line with 15 homers. He kept his strikeout rate around 25% but hit more ground balls and made less of a power impact than he had the previous year.
Moniak is coming off his best year at the plate. Signed to a $1.25MM contract after being released by the Angels in Spring Training, the lefty hitter popped a career-high 24 homers for Colorado. He batted .270/.306/.518 across 461 trips to the dish. Moniak made hard contact (a 95 MPH+ exit velocity) on 45% of his balls in play, easily the best mark of his six MLB seasons.
The surface numbers would seem to make the former first overall pick a strong trade chip for a rebuilding team. The underlying splits aren’t so flattering. Moniak did the vast majority of his damage at Coors Field, where he hit .303/.348/.598 with 15 longballs. His .230/.255/.425 slash away from Denver is a lot less encouraging. Moniak’s rate stats are inflated by his usage, as the Rox shielded him to 60 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.
There was also a dramatic dip in Moniak’s defensive grades. He had graded as a solid, albeit not exceptional, defender who could handle all three outfield spots with the Angels. His numbers in Colorado were well below average no matter where he played. Moniak remains a plus runner with an average arm, so the tools are there to be a competent defender, but it’s another question for interested clubs.
Moniak has between four and five years of service time. He’s controllable through 2027 and projected for a $4.2MM arbitration salary.
Colorado landed Freeman in last offseason’s Nolan Jones trade with the Guardians. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each graded him around a win below replacement level in his first year in Colorado. However, he showed more or less the same profile he had in Cleveland that made him a trade target for the Rox a year ago.
Freeman hit .281/.354/.361 while striking out in fewer than 12% of his 428 plate appearances. He was easily the team’s most consistent on-base threat. The 26-year-old has zero power but he puts the ball in play and has plus speed. As was the case with Moniak, Freeman’s WAR was depressed by dreadful defensive metrics that don’t fully align with his athleticism and arm strength.
A team that views the defensive grades as a one-year blip could still be in on Freeman as a utility piece for whom they’re willing to swap a depth arm. He’s controllable for three seasons with a $1.8MM arbitration projection and has a minor league option remaining.
A supplemental first-round pick in 2022, Beck got his first look at MLB pitching two years later. He had a rough go as a rookie, striking out at a 35% clip while hitting .188 over his first 55 games. His sophomore season was more promising. Beck spent a couple weeks in Triple-A in April but was otherwise on the MLB roster for the entire season. He worked as Colorado’s primary left fielder and put up decent counting stats. Beck hit 16 home runs, 27 doubles, and five triples while stealing 19 bases.
Beck’s .258/.317/.416 batting line was worse than league average after accounting for Coors Field. He whiffed on nearly 30% of his swings and struggled down the stretch, hitting .250/.316/.377 with a 32% strikeout rate after the All-Star Break. Beck’s physical tools are intriguing. He has above-average bat speed, runs well, and has a strong arm. The approach and pure hitting ability have been questions dating back to his college days, though, and the Rockies are probably better holding onto him to see if he makes any strides at age 25.
Veen and Fernández are left-handed hitting corner outfielders who once ranked among the top offensive prospects in the Colorado system. Both players hit well in the low minors but have seemingly plateaued against upper level pitching. Neither has any kind of MLB track record. Veen has only played in 12 big league games. Fernández hit .225/.265/.348 over 147 plate appearances as a rookie.
Both players have options remaining. They’re probably ticketed for Triple-A Albuquerque as things stand. They’re each young enough to be change of scenery candidates if Colorado’s new regime isn’t as bullish on them as the previous front office had been. That’s theoretically also true of prospect Sterlin Thompson, the only other outfielder on the 40-man roster. Thompson seems likelier to get a chance to play his way into Warren Schaeffer’s outfield next season on the heels of a .296/.392/.519 showing in Albuquerque.