The Rockies are fielding interest in various players on their roster. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that the club is getting calls on Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen and Tomoyuki Sugano, who are all impending free agent starting pitchers, as well as controllable position players Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy and Willi Castro. Reliever Antonio Senzatela, who has a club option in his contract for 2027, is also getting interest. The report also mentions that some controllable relievers are on the radars of other clubs, but without specifying names.
It’s unsurprising that the phones are busy. The Rockies are one of the clubs most clearly in the seller camp. They haven’t had a winning record since 2018 and lost at least 101 games in the past three completed seasons. This year, they have the worst record in the majors at 41-62. Baseball America recently ranked their farm 28th out of 30. Not only are they not good now but it’s unclear when they will be competitive again.
That makes it perfectly logical for them to field interest in their impending free agents, though they won’t be able to get much in return. Freeland has a 7.28 ERA on the year and Lorenzen 6.53. They both deserve better, as they have been unfortunate in terms of sequencing and batted-ball luck, but even their adjusted numbers aren’t too exciting. Lorenzen has a 4.93 FIP and 4.78 SIERA, with Freeland having a 4.90 FIP and 4.14 SIERA.
Even if some clubs view them as viable back-end guys, the contracts don’t help matters. Freeland is making $16MM this year. There’s a $17MM conditional player option for next year but he’s unlikely to trigger that, since he would need to get to 170 innings pitched this year and is only at 94. He’ll be viewed as a rental but that salary and his ERA don’t leave him with a lot of value. Lorenzen’s salary is far lower at $7.75MM, with a $250K buyout on a $9MM club option, but that’s still not terribly appealing.
Sugano’s ERA is much nicer at 4.76 but he’s in the opposite position of his rotationmates, as he has been lucky, with a .264 batting average on balls in play and 73.6% strand rate. His 5.39 FIP and 5.11 SIERA are a bit north of his actual ERA. His $5.1MM salary is the least onerous of the three, but there shouldn’t be a ton of trade value here either.
The outfielders are a different story. McCarthy is hitting .307/.351/.513 on the year for a 121 wRC+. He has had some help from a .347 BABIP but he’s a capable center fielder with 17 stolen bases on the year. He would be having a good season even if his offense regressed a bit. He is making just $1.525MM this year and can be controlled for another two seasons. He should have some good appeal and teams like the Astros, Guardians, Phillies, Rays and others could be looking for center field help. Houston has already been connected to both McCarthy and Moniak this year.
Moniak doesn’t quite have McCarthy’s defensive chops or wheels, though his speed is above average. At the plate this year, he has a .280/.325/.569 line and 126 wRC+. His .309 BABIP is much closer to average, so his bat is more legit than McCarthy, though he is a platoon guy. He has hit just .227/.261/.364 against lefties this year and .197/.238/.284 in his career. He is making $4MM this season and can be retained via arbitration for 2027 as well. He might have a similar market to McCarthy, though his offense-forward profile might open him up to other clubs who simply want a bat, regardless of position.
Senzatela is a longtime starter who flamed out in that role but is having a resurgence as a reliever. His four-seamer is averaging 97.3 miles per hour, a big jump from last year’s 94.9. He has thrown 50 innings over 31 appearances with a 3.60 ERA. His 21.3% strikeout rate is a bit below average but his 7.7% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate are solid figures.
He is making $12MM this year and has a $14MM club option. Those figures are probably slightly too high for the numbers he has put up. Teams will probably view him as a rental. The Rockies should be willing to eat some of this year’s money in order to maximize the prospect return.
As for the rest of the bullpen, the Rockies have recently showed a willingness to deal controllable relievers. In the offseason, they dealt Angel Chivilli to the Yankees when he had just over a year of service time and was therefore controllable for at least five seasons. More recently, they sent Seth Halvorsen to the Dodgers, another guy with just over a year of service time. Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik aren’t having great results but both have upper-90s velocity that could attract attention. Brennan Bernardino isn’t a flamethrower but is good lefty-on-lefty arm.
The Rockies have another controllable player who is likely to garner interest in catcher Hunter Goodman. He strikes out a lot but has huge power. He hit 31 home runs last year and has already matched that total in 2026. Despite playing at Coors Field, he actually has better numbers on the road.
Goodman is controlled for another three seasons and doesn’t need to be traded. But as mentioned, it’s unclear how long it will take for the Rockies to be competitive again. If it takes a few years, he might be gone or close to free agency by the time that happens. An extension could keep him around longer but that has often been a problem for the club. They have extended many players over the years instead of trading them, only to see those players decline, leaving the contracts underwater.
The front office has recently changed. The club parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt after last season and hired Paul DePodesta as president of baseball operations. Perhaps that will lead to a different approach to these situations. DePodesta has already pulled the trigger on the Chivilli and Halvorsen trades. Sam Blum of The Athletic reports that Goodman is open to an extension but the club hasn’t yet approached him about one.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images
