Rockies Rumors

The Rockies announced that outfielderSam Hilliard has passed through waivers unclaimed and been sent outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s unclear if he will.

Players with at least three years of major league service time can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, only players with at least five years of service can do so while retaining the salary they are still owed on their contracts. Hilliard and the Rockies avoided arbitration back in the fall, agreeing to a $1MM salary this year. Presumably, Hilliard won’t want to leave that on the table and will therefore report to Albuquerque.

If that comes to pass, Hilliard will provide the Rockies with a bit of extra outfield depth without taking up a roster spot. They currently project to haveBrenton Doyle,Jordan Beck,Nick Martini,Mickey Moniak andSean Bouchard rotating through the outfield spots. There’s not a ton of experience there, with no one in that group having reached four years of big league service time.

If any of them struggle or get hurt, the Rockies could bring Hilliard back up for some more playing time. He has shown some power and speed in the big leagues but with strikeout concerns as well. In 875 career plate appearances, he has 42 homers and has swiped 24 bags but has been struck out at a big 34.1% clip. His .219/.296/.438 batting line translates to an 84 wRC+.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

• Tyler Freeman left today’s game with a bruised left wrist after he was hit by aTaj Bradley pitch, but x-rays were negative,MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writes.  Freeman might be well enough to return to theRockies’ lineup tomorrow, though since Colorado doesn’t play on Tuesday, this is another situation where a player with a minor injury might simply get an extra day to fully heal.

The Rockies are one of the few teams in the majors will no real shot at contending this year, so their offseason was understandably very quiet.

Major League Signings

• IFThairo Estrada:One year, $4MM (includes $750K buyout on 2026 mutual option)
• IFKyle Farmer:One year, $3.25MM (includes $750K buyout on 2026 mutual option)
• CJacob Stallings:One year, $2.5MM (includes $500K buyout on 2026 mutual option)
• LHPScott Alexander:One year, $2MM
• OFMickey Moniak:One year, $1.25MM

2025 spending: $13MM
Total spending: $13MM

Option Decisions

• CJacob Stallingsdeclined mutual option (later re-signed)

Trades and Claims

• Acquired IFOwen Miller from Brewers for cash considerations
• Claimed RHPJimmy Herget off waivers from Cubs
• Acquired IF/OFTyler Freeman from Guardians for OFNolan Jones

Notable Minor League Signings

• Jack O'Loughlin,Austin Nola,Diego Castillo,Jake Woodford (later released),Keston Hiura,Nick Martini (later added to 40-man),Tommy Doyle

Extensions

• None

Notable Losses

• Charlie Blackmon(retired),Jake Cave,Dakota Hudson,Peter Lambert,Elehuris Montero,Brendan Rodgers (non-tendered),Cal Quantrill (non-tendered),Justin Lawrence (waivers),Nolan Jones,Greg Jones (waivers)

There wasn't a lot of momentum for the Rockies going into the winter. 2024 was their sixth straight losing season. It was their second in a row getting to triple-digit losses. In the age of the expanded playoffs, most clubs are at least theoretical contenders, but the Rockies are one of a few that are clearly on the outside.

Such a team could perhaps find itself in plenty of offseason rumors anyway. The White Sox were coming off an atrocious 2024 season but still had notable trade candidates to talk about inGarrett Crochet andLuis Robert Jr. The Rockies have been reluctant to make such moves, however.Ryan McMahon could have been an exciting offseason trade candidate if there was any indication the Rockies were open to moving him, but that has never seemed likely.

There weresome reports early in the offseason with a bit of smoke, to a degree. The Rockies were reportedly looking to lower payroll, not surprising given their circumstances. They had some openness to tradingBrendan Rodgers,Cal Quantrill andJustin Lawrence. They clearly didn't find much interest. Rodgers and Quantrill were later non-tendered. Lawrence was put on waivers and claimed by the Pirates.

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• Rockies starter Austin Gomber was shelved by shoulder soreness to begin the season. Colorado sent him to Triple-A Albuquerque to start their season opener this evening. Gomber tossed four innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts. He built up to 66 pitches. The Rox are opening with a four-man rotation because of off days built into their schedule during the first two turns.Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Germán Márquez and Ryan Feltner could take every start until the second week of April — at which point there’s a good chance Gomber will be ready to rejoin the rotation.

The Rockies are going to designate outfielderSam Hilliard for assignment, reportsPatrick Saunders of the Denver Post. That will be the corresponding move to sign fellow outfielderMickey Moniak, a move which wasreported yesterday.

Hilliard, 31, was previously lined up a bench outfielder for Colorado. However, when the Angels released Moniak, they pounced to grab him, which nudged Hilliard down the depth chart by one peg. The regular outfield playing time figures to be split betweenBrenton Doyle,Jordan Beck,Nick Martini andSean Bouchard, with Moniak perhaps having a chance to force his way in there as well.

That will squeeze out Hilliard, who has longstanding ties to the Rockies. Drafted by Colorado in 2015, he got to the big leagues in 2019 and was with the club through the 2022 season. He was traded to Atlanta prior to 2023. Ahead of 2024, he bounced around the waiver wire but wound up back with the Rockies.

Overall, he has shown some pop and some speed but has undercut those assets with too many strikeouts. In 875 career plate appearances, he has 42 home runs and 24 stolen bases but has been punched out at a huge 34.1% clip. His .219/.296/.438 batting line translates to an 84 wRC+.

Though Hilliard is out of options, the Rockies tendered him a contract for 2025. The two sides agreed to a $1MM salary for this year. He has at least three years of service time, meaning he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting the money that is still owed to him. If he clears waivers, he would like stick with the Rockies as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

The Rockies are in agreement with Mickey Moniak on a one-year, $1.25MM contract,report Mark Feinsand and Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The Angels released the former first overall pick yesterday. Moniak, a Wasserman client, has a little over three years of service time and is technically controllable through 2027 via arbitration. Colorado has not announced the signing. They opened a 40-man roster spot bywaiving Greg Jones, who was claimed by the White Sox this afternoon.

Moniak had gone to an arbitration hearing with the Halos. He prevailed and was awarded a $2MM salary. However, arbitration salaries are only fully guaranteed if the player and team mutually agree to them without a hearing. The distinction was introduced in the most recent collective bargaining agreement, at least partially to incentivize players to agree to deals without going to hearings.

Players who go to a hearing (regardless of whether they win or lose) are only guaranteed termination pay until the beginning of the regular season. Players released before or early in Spring Training receive 30 days termination pay; those released within 15 days of Opening Day are guaranteed 45 days termination pay. Moniak obviously fell into the latter bucket, so he received roughly $484K from the Angels when he was cut loose.

That’s on top of the money he’s guaranteed from the Rockies, meaning he has now locked in around $1.73MM for this season. That’s about $270K below what he had won in the hearing, but it’s roughly $230K above the Angels’ $1.5MM filing figure during the arbitration process. Moniak lands just shy of the midpoint between his and the Halos’ respective filing numbers.

Moniak, a lefty-hitting center fielder, has spent the last two seasons playing a semi-regular role with the Angels. He had a productive 2023 season, hitting .280/.307/.495 with 14 homers in 85 games. A massive 35% strikeout rate made it unlikely he’d be able to keep up that production. His numbers indeed fell off last season, as he hit .219/.266/.380 over 418 plate appearances. Moniak cut his strikeout rate to a slightly more palatable 27.3% mark, but that came with a dramatic drop to his ball-in-play results.

The Angels are movingMike Trout to right field this season. That reopened the path for Moniak and another former top prospect, Jo Adell, to work as a center field platoon. Moniak had a terrible Spring Training, batting .191 while striking out 18 times in 58 plate appearances. Adell’s numbers were even worse (.172/.194/.375 in 67 PAs), but the Angels decided to move on from Moniak and cut a little more than $1.5MM from their payroll.

Moniak projects as a fourth outfielder in Colorado.Brenton Doyle is one of the better all-around center fielders in MLB. Jordan Beck, Sean Bouchard and minor league signee Nick Martini round out the corner outfield after last week’s Nolan Jones/Tyler Freeman swap. The signing probably doesn’t bode well for Sam Hilliard, another left-handed hitter who was slated to work as the fourth outfielder. Moniak and Hilliard are both out of options, so they’ll need to break camp or be exposed to waivers. Moniak is clearly going to make the team. Hilliard batted .137 while striking out nearly half the time this spring.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

The White Sox have designated outfielderOscar Colas for assignment and claimed infielder/outfielderGreg Jones off waivers from the Rockies, per a team announcement. Chicago optioned Jones and rightyJustin Anderson to Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox also reassigned infieldersBobby Dalbec,Tristan Gray andChase Meidroth to minor league camp alongside rightiesJames Karinchak andSteven Wilson.

In Jones, the Sox will pick up one of the sport’s fastest players. The 27-year-old has only six MLB plate appearances to his credit — he went 1-for-6 with a homer for Colorado last year — but drew 80 grades for his speed as a prospect. Jones went 46-for-49 in stolen bases at the Triple-A level last year despite being limited to just 89 games by injury. He hit .267/.344/.453 with the Rockies’ top affiliate (99 wRC+).

Jones is in the last of his three minor league option years. The former Rays first-rounder has split the bulk of his pro career between shortstop and center field. He’ll give the South Siders some depth at both spots and would presumably be an option in the outfield corners or at second base and third base as well. The Rockies gave him 64 games in center, 16 at shortstop, eight at second base and four in right field last year.

Colorado picked Jones up in a March 2024 trade sending left-handed pitching prospectJoe Rock to the Rays. The Rockies are left without anything to show for that swap now, whereas Rock has blossomed into a nearly MLB-ready rotation prospect for Tampa Bay. Rock profiles as more of a back-end starter or multi-inning reliever than a top-of-the-rotation talent, but the swap has clearly worked out in the Rays’ favor to this point.

With Opening Day just over the horizon, teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. And until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division, and that series begins today with the NL West. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64)

The Dodgers have already notched two wins over the Cubs in the Tokyo Series for 2025, and they did so coming off a season where they finished the year with the best record in baseball and went on to win the World Series over the Yankees in five games. The club’s core of MVP-caliber talent remains in place withShohei Ohtani,Mookie Betts, andFreddie Freeman all set to once again anchor the lineup this year. Meanwhile, a pitching staff that already includedYoshinobu Yamamoto,Tyler Glasnow, andClayton Kershaw has been bulked out further not just by Ohtani’s impending return to the mound but also the additions ofBlake Snell andRoki Sasaki.

In the bullpen, the team’s solid late-inning mix ofBlake Treinen,Alex Vesia,Michael Kopech, andEvan Phillips got a pair of major additions in the form ofTanner Scott andKirby Yates, while the lineup is largely unchanged from last season withHyeseong Kim set to replaceGavin Lux eventually andMichael Conforto stepping into the outfield in place ofJason Heyward. There are few clear places to nitpick a team that appears to be a clear juggernaut on paper, although the combination of Betts andMax Muncy on the left side of the infield figures to be below average defensively and the club’s strategy of stacking talented, oft-injured rotation arms always runs the risk of health problems.

San Diego Padres (93-69)

While many view besting the Dodgers as a mountain that’s near impossible to climb, it’s worth remembering that San Diego came within just one game of toppling them during the NLDS back in October. The Padres were restricted in their offseason activities by financial limitations, but the core of the 2024 club remains largely in place withManny Machado,Jackson Merrill, andFernando Tatis Jr. poised to anchor the lineup,Xander Bogaerts andLuis Arraez providing support and a front-of-the-rotation duo ofDylan Cease andMichael King who will be motivated to build on their excellent 2024 campaigns ahead of free agency this winter.

That’s not to say the club made no additions this winter, of course. The Padres waited out the market to sign talented right-handerNick Pivetta to anchor the middle of their rotation alongsideYu Darvish, allowing them to make a splash on a tight budget. Other additions were less flashy, but could still prove valuable. While a supporting cast of Jason Heyward,Connor Joe,Jose Iglesias, andYuli Gurriel may not look like much on paper, no one expectedJurickson Profar,David Peralta, andDonovan Solano to be as impactful for the club as they were last year. If the Padres are to win an NL West that got even more loaded this winter, they’ll need to hit on those dice rolls once again.

Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73)

While the Diamondbacks missed the playoffs by a hair in 2024 when they finished tied with the Mets and Braves for the final two NL Wild Card spots, the 2023 NL champions put together an excellent team in 2024. The Diamondbacks led the majors in runs scored last year, and many core pieces likeKetel Marte andCorbin Carroll are back for more this year alongside supporting veteransLourdes Gurriel Jr. andEugenio Suarez. The losses ofChristian Walker andJoc Pederson will certainly sting, butJosh Naylor should help to make up for some of that lost production and it wouldn’t be a shock to see longtime top prospectJordan Lawlar break into the majors this year, either.

The pitching side of things is where Arizona figures to improve the most over last year.Zac Gallen is now complemented at the top of the Diamondbacks rotation by a co-ace inCorbin Burnes, andMerrill Kelly andEduardo Rodriguez should be able to offer far steadier mid-rotation production than they did in injury-marred 2024 campaigns. The club also enjoys a deep group of back-of-the-rotation options, withBrandon Pfaadt set to get the first crack at starting. Should injuries once again complicate matters,Ryne Nelson is one of the best sixth starters in the league and there’s nowhere forJordan Montgomery to go but up after last year’s disastrous campaign.

San Francisco Giants (80-82)

The Giants enjoyed a reasonably strong offseason duringBuster Posey’s first winter at the helm, but after finishing with a middling record for the third consecutive season it would take a lot of things going right for the club to make significant gains in the standings. The addition of a star-caliber shortstop inWilly Adames alongsideMatt Chapman should make for one of the stronger left sides of the infield in the sport this year, but it would take a renaissance fromJustin Verlander to even match Blake Snell’s production down the stretch last year. Meanwhile, the club has no established talent at DH and faces questions about the productivity of its outfield afterJung Hoo Lee’s debut season was sidetracked by injuries.

That’s not to say 2025 is a season without hope for fans in San Francisco, however. Verlander andRobbie Ray are both former Cy Young winners, and vintage performances from the duo in conjunction withLogan Webb’s ever-steady production could make an impressive front-end of the rotation. Young players likeHeliot Ramos,Tyler Fitzgerald, andPatrick Bailey could build on solid 2024 campaigns and take further steps forward. And if they do so while the rotation plays up to its potential, it’s possible to see the Giants surprising this year.

Colorado Rockies (61-101)

While the division’s other four teams all have reasonable paths to contention this year, the Rockies would need to move heaven and earth just to get to .500 after a season where they finished 37 games back in the NL West and made no significant additions during the offseason. The club has a few potentially exciting pieces in place, with center fielderBrenton Doyle and shortstopEzequiel Tovar creating an exciting up-the-middle duo, but the supporting cast leaves much to be desired.

The club traded its highest-ceiling offensive player, left fielderNolan Jones, for utility manTyler Freeman over the weekend. And exciting top prospects likeZac Veen andChase Dollander remain in the minor leagues. Even a return to form from $182MM manKris Bryant wouldn’t be enough to return playoff baseball to Colorado this year unless it was paired with strong performances from those aforementioned prospects in addition to veteran arms likeGerman Marquez andKyle Freeland turning back the clock to 2018.

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With four of the division’s five teams making an effort to get back to the playoffs this year, which club do you expect to come out on top? Will the Dodgers remain the league’s dominant force, or will they be overcome by a big season from one of their rivals like San Diego or Arizona? Have your say in the poll below:

The Rockies announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, highlighted by the club’s decisions to select outfielderNick Martini’s contract and option outfielderZac Veen to Triple-A. The Rockies’s 40-man roster stands at 40 after the addition of Martini.

Martini, 35 in June, figures to replace therecently-tradedNolan Jones in left field for the Rockies entering the year. A seventh-round pick by the Cardinals all the way back in 2011, Martini toiled in the minor leagues for several years before finally making his big league debut with Oakland back in 2018. He got into only 55 games for the A’s that year, but hit quite well with a .296/.397/.414 slash line in 179 trips to the plate. Things took a turn for the worse from there, however, as Martini hit just .238/.338/.315 in 57 games from 2019 to 2021 while jumping between the A’s, Padres, and Cubs.

Those lackluster numbers led Martini to try his luck overseas, and he hit a strong .296/.365/.461 in 139 games as a regular for the KBO’s NC Dinos. That served as a springboard that allowed him to return to the majors with the Reds for the 2023 season, and Martini made the most of the opportunity as he hit an excellent .264/.329/.583 in a brief 29-game stint with the club. Cincinnati was impressed enough to keep Martini in the fold last year, though his numbers took a nosedive as he hit just .212/.272/.370 in 52 games for the Reds last year. Martini departed the Reds following that down year and caught on with the Rockies on a minor league deal this winter.

He entered the spring as a long shot for a big league job, but has crushed the ball to the tune of a .389/.511/.556 showing in 16 spring games this year. That performance, combined with the club’s recent move to trade Jones back to Cleveland, cleared the way for Martini to make the Opening Day roster, where he seems poised to platoon withSean Bouchard in left field.

Veen, meanwhile, was in competition withJordan Beck and Bouchard for the everyday right field job but will now head to the minor leagues to begin the year. The 23-year-old was Colorado’s first-round pick back in 2020, Veen was a consensus top-50 prospect early in his pro career but has been limited to just 111 games by injuries over the past two years. 2023 saw him struggle to a lackluster .209/.304/.308 in 46 games, but last year Veen bounced back in 65 appearances, with a strong .258/.346/.459 line split mostly between the Double- and Triple-A levels. Like Martini, Veen has enjoyed an incredible spring as he’s hit .298/.375/.509 in 25 games for the Rockies during camp.

Unfortunately for Veen, it appears that strong performance wasn’t enough to force his way onto the roster even after the Jones trade cleared an outfield spot. With Veen now ticketed for Triple-A, he’ll look to build on the 21 games of experience he got at the level last year and stay healthy as he waits for his first big league opportunity. Should an injury to the big league outfield mix occur, Veen’s status on the 40-man roster could give him a leg up over some potential alternative options, thoughGreg Jones andYanquiel Fernandez are both on the 40 as well.

According to a report fromMLBTR’s Steve Adams yesterday evening, right-handerJake Woodford has opted out of his minor league deal with the Rockies and Colorado is expected to grant the righty his release so that he can pursue other opportunities.

Woodford, 28, was a first rounder selected by the Cardinals in 2015 but did not make his big league debut until 2020. The right-hander’s first stint in the majors left something to be desired, as he struggled to a 5.57 ERA across 21 frames, but he remained an up-and-down swingman for the club for four seasons in total. Woodford managed to get some solid results for the Cardinals from 2021-22, as he pitched to a 3.26 ERA (121 ERA+) with a 3.93 FIP in 116 innings of work. He struck out just 15.4% of opponents faced during that time against a 7.5% walk rate, though he made up for his lack of strikeout stuff and pinpoint command in part thanks to a strong 45.8% groundball rate.

The righty’s shaky peripherals proved to be a problem for him during the 2023 campaign, however, as he posted a lackluster 6.23 ERA with a 6.61 FIP over 47 2/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate dipped to 13.1%, his walk rate ballooned to 9.1%, and even his excellent 51.2% groundball rate wasn’t enough to make up for the excessive free passes and minimal punchouts. Woodford’s considerable struggles with the Cardinals led the club to non-tender him last winter, though he eventually caught on with the White Sox on a minor league deal.

Unfortunately, 2024 did not go much better for Woodford than 2023 had. The right-hander made two spot starts on the south side of Chicago but was torched for 15 hits and ten runs in 8 1/3 innings of work before being designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency before eventually catching on with the Pirates on a minor league deal and making it back to the majors shortly after the trade deadline. The right-hander ended up making seven appearances (five starts) for Pittsburgh, and while he struggled once again to a 7.09 ERA his peripheral numbers improved somewhat. His strikeout rate ticked back up to 15.7% while he held opponents to a minuscule 3.3% walk rate, though those improvements came at the cost of a groundball rate that sat at just 38.9%.

Woodford was eventually outrighted off the Pirates’ roster late last season and went on to elect minor league free agency, where he landed with the Rockies on a minor league deal. Colorado intended to give Woodford a look as a potential starter, though he did not make the club’s rotation out of camp after struggling to a 5.25 ERA in 12 spring innings of work. Despite that lackluster performance, it’s not hard to imagine a club short on rotation depth taking a chance on Woodford and seeing what he can do for them at the Triple-A level on a minor league deal. After all, many pitching-needy clubs could find interest in his solid career 45.1% groundball rate, and his ability to shuffle between the rotation and bullpen as needed offers flexibility.