The Colorado Rockies haven’t exactly had a quiet off-season. They hired an entirely new front office and coaching staff as the organization begins their much needed modernization and rebuild efforts. They’ve
signed two veteran free agents in Michael Lorenzen and Willi Castro to Major League deals, acquired Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, brought on a full new class of young international free agents, and made a smattering of minor league deals.
However, it’s always felt like—with a crowded outfield and further roster evaluation needed—there had to be more coming.
Then, on Wednesday, the Rockies suddenly had one of their busiest days of the off-season.
The Rockies kicked off the day with a surprise by trading young right-handed reliever and former prospect Angel Chivilli to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league first baseman TJ Rumfield.
The 25-year-old has a solid glove and turned in a strong season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slashing .285/.378/.447 with 31 doubles, one triple, and 16 home runs. He can also draw walks regularly, doing so at a 11.9% clip compared to his 18.4% strikeout rate.
“We’re going to keep adding talent to this roster, but in no way are we not believing in the young guys we have,” DePodesta said. “I think we have a lot of really good young players that are in Double-A and Triple-A, and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’re going to earn their opportunities on this team. And once they do, they’ll have long runways with us.”
However, those long runways don’t necessarily apply to everyone. We have already seen the Rockies part ways with young players prospects this off-season. In addition to the Chivilli trade, the Rockies also dealt prospect pitcher Josh Grosz to the Arizona Diamondbacks and designated a player once believed to be the team’s catcher of the future in Drew Romo for assignment.
Later in the day, the Rockies added outfielder Yanquiel Fernández to that list by designating him for assignment. Once ranked as high as the Rockies’ no. 3 organizational prospect per MLB Pipeline, Fernández made his Major League debut in 2025. He slashed .225/.265/.348 with four home runs over 138 at-bats as both a right fielder and designated hitter. Fernández, despite having just turned 23, is now potentially out of the Rockies organization entirely after getting his first cup of coffee.
“We’re certainly at the point where we feel like every time we make a move we’re losing someone we like, or potentially losing someone we like, and that certainly was the case with Yanquiel,” DePodesta explained. “We now have a group in the big leagues that we feel pretty good about. We also have a handful of guys on the 40-man who haven’t yet gotten a lot of time in the big leagues, or even any time right now, like Sterlin Thompson. Guys that we like and guys that we think have a chance to help us.”
While DePodesta had plenty of praise for Fernández and Chivilli, his new front office’s decisions would indicate that this team isn’t as high on it’s current stock of youth and prospects as the Rockies of the past—especially when it comes to position players.
This would seem to be substantiated by moves today and throughout the off-season. While DePodesta says he believes the youth will earn their spots, his focus has been on bringing in competition and creating fluidity on the roster.
“I think what we’re really trying to do is create really healthy competition on our roster,” he said. “Most of the players we have acquired do have a good amount of versatility. I think there are lots of different ways that the pieces can fit, and I think that’s really what we’re looking for.”
Willi Castro—now officially signed to the roster—can play all over the field and create competition for younger players like Kyle Karros at third base and Adael Amador at second. Both he and Jake McCarthy’s outfield versatility creates competition for the aforementioned Thompson, the beleaguered Zac Veen, and other outfield prospects. Fernández ended up being the odd man out because—despite his strong arm and power bat—he lacked the flexibility of other outfielders on the roster. With his poor speed and defense, he was anchored exclusively to right field or as a designated hitter.
New first baseman TJ Rumfield represents another potential option for the Rockies in a first base group that has surprisingly become quite crowded alongside Blaine Crim, Troy Johnston—who can also play corner outfield—, and current top prospect Charlie Condon.
The Rockies continued their busy day with another trade, acquiring French-Canadian infielder Edouard Julien and right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jace Kaminska and cash considerations.
Julien, 26, was once a top prospect of the Twins organization and can play both first and second base. However, the Rockies also like him for another trend we have seen in their acquisitions: getting on base and batted ball skills. More Rockies on base means more runs to be driven in.
While Julien is coming off two down years, in 2023 and throughout his minor league career he has hit well against right-handed pitching and getting on base. He has a whopping .427 career on-base percentage in the minors, while carrying a solid enough .336 Major League OBP and a 13% walk rate.
The Rockies also believe that Julien—along with Castro and McCarthy—can have bounce-back seasons after losing a step in 2025.
“I think we feel really strongly about all their capabilities. Also. I think the underlying fundamentals of their performance have stayed reasonably consistent. So we think we have a chance to build on that foundation and get them back to,or maybe even exceed, where they were.”
With all of these roster moves, the Rockies are already showing a different approach to the off-season compared to the previous front office. There may also be more moves yet to come.
“We may not be done adding. Well, we’ll see…” DePodesta said. “But we did want to make sure that we had healthy competition at a handful of these different spots and then different ways to put the puzzle together.”
Willi Castro joins Puerto Rico for his first World Baseball Classic | MLB.com
The rosters for the World Baseball Classic are taking shape, and one of the newest members of the Rockies will be a part of it. Puerto Rican super utilityman Willi Castro will suit up for his first World Baseball Classic appearance alongside Nolan Arenado for Team Puerto Rico.
Twins Trade Julien, Ohl to Rockies | Twinkie Town
Our friends over at Twinkie Town discuss the trade of Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl from their perspective. They see Julien as a reclamation project for the Rockies and have some concerns about his defense.
Yankees trade for Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli | Pinstripe Alley
Meanwhile, our friends at Pinstripe Alley have their own thoughts about their newest team member in right-handed pitcher Angel Chivilli.
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