Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rockies Rumors

MLBTR Podcast: Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The Rockies parting ways with general manager Bill Schmidt (1:45)
  • The Rangers hiring Skip Schumaker as manager (9:50)
  • The ABS challenge system coming to MLB for 2026 (15:20)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the upcoming expiration of the CBA after 2026 lead teams to not spend money this winter? (24:10)
  • With some recent teams selling at the deadline and then making late surges, will it lead to changes in how teams approach future deadlines? (30:15)
  • Which free agent pitchers could sign one-year deals to be traded next summer? (35:15)
  • Who are realistic targets for the Orioles this offseason? (46:10)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images

Rockies Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal Resigns

By | at

Rockies VP of baseball operations and assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal has resigned from the organization, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  Rosenthal has been in the assistant GM role since the 2014-15 offseason, and the VP position was added to his portfolio following the 2021 season, after Bill Schmidt was elevated from interim GM to the full-time job.

Schmidt is now out after a disastrous four-year run, as Colorado has won only 231 games since Opening Day 2022.  This year’s squad was simply one of the worst teams in MLB history, with an astonishing 43-119 record and the worst rotation ERA (6.65) and run differential (-424) in baseball’s modern era.  Ownership has already stated that the Rockies’ next front office boss will be someone from outside the organization, which seems like a long overdue step for a club often criticized for being too insular and not in touch with analytical and developments trends are commonplace in the sport.

With this in mind, it isn’t surprising that other longtime front office staffers like Rosenthal are on the way out, as the next top executive will likely have a wide berth to bring in their own personnel.  Since Schmidt’s title was GM rather than president of baseball operations, Rosenthal was his de facto number two, as the Rockies’ only assistant general manager.

Rosenthal told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (multiple links) that he made his own decision to step away.  “I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to stay with one single organization for 20-plus years,” Rosenthal said.  “So many amazing experiences and memories.   My first full-time season was the World Series year [in 2007].  That was magical…I want nothing but success for the Rockies.  This city deserves a team that competes, because there’s nothing like Coors Field in October.”

Starting his baseball career as an account manager with the A’s and as an intern with the Red Sox, Rosenthal arrived in Denver in 2006 as a player development intern.  From there, he became a baseball ops assistant and then the director of baseball operations.  Beyond just the baseball-specific duties, Rosenthal was also the Rockies’ assistant general counsel for much of his time with the club, dealing with legal matters related to front office matters and the team’s business operations.

14 Players Elect Free Agency

By | at

Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielder

Pitchers

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Rockies Expected To Consider Thad Levine In Front Office Search

By | at

The Rockies officially parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt this morning, finalizing what had become an expected decision after one of the worst seasons in MLB history. The Rox have already announced they’ll go outside the organization for their next baseball operations leader.

That alone is a change for a franchise that has promoted from within for its past two GM hires. Jeff Bridich and Schmidt had each been longtime members of the Colorado front office before ascending to the top of the staff. The Rockies will go in a different direction on the heels of their first three 100-loss seasons in franchise history. Yet given owner Dick Monfort’s reputation for loyalty that arguably tips into insularity, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the next GM has some history with the organization.

Schmidt’s ouster immediately sparked speculation about former Twins’ general manager Thad Levine, who had worked in the Colorado front office between 1999-2005. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post listed him among five potential candidates for the position this morning. While that was a largely speculative tie, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi also suggested this evening that the Rockies are likely to consider Levine.

Despite holding the GM title in Minnesota, the 53-year-old Levine has never led a baseball operations department. He worked as the #2 executive under chief baseball officer/president of baseball operations Derek Falvey for eight seasons. He stepped down at the beginning of the 2024-25 offseason. Before that, Levine had spent over a decade as an assistant GM with Texas under Jon Daniels.

Levine’s name has come up in plenty of front office searches over the years, including with the Rockies in 2021 before Schmidt had been tabbed as the permanent general manager. He did not work in baseball operations this past offseason, but Morosi reports that he’d have interest in the Colorado GM job.

22 Players Elect Free Agency

By | at

Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Pitchers

Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

By | at

The Rockies announced Wednesday that general manager Bill Schmidt is stepping down from his post. While Schmidt and the team framed it as a mutual parting of ways, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports that Schmidt was fired. Regardless, they’ve begun a search to bring in a new head of baseball operations from outside the organization, according to the team.

“After a number of conversations, we decided it is time for me to step aside and make way for a new voice to guide the club’s baseball operations,” Schmidt said within this morning’s press release. “It’s been an honor to serve the Rockies family for over 25 years. I’m thankful to the Monfort family for the opportunity, to my family for their constant support, and our staff for their tireless dedication. Better seasons are ahead for the Rockies and our great fans, and I look forward to seeing it come to life in the years ahead.”

Schmidt spent four-plus seasons as the GM in Colorado, originally taking over for Jeff Bridich after Bridich was fired during the 2021 season. The Rockies quickly stripped away the interim title following the season and named Schmidt the full-time general manager — just the fourth GM in Rockies franchise history. As was the case with predecessors Bridich and Dan O’Dowd, Schmidt was an internal promotion. He’d previously served as the club’s scouting director dating back to the 2000 season.

The move to hire someone from outside the organization represents a major ideological shift. Owner Dick Monfort would surely prefer to describe his family as loyal — perhaps to a fault — but onlookers and critics would frame the Rockies as an insular organization that has fallen behind the times. Colorado’s baseball operations and analytics departments are reportedly among the smallest in Major League Baseball, if not the smallest. Beyond remaking the roster, the incoming baseball operations head will also have ample work to do in modernizing and bolstering the team’s infrastructure.

“Bill’s departure allows our club to seek a new leader of our baseball department experienced in areas where we know we need to grow within the operation,” Monfort said in the press release.

Monfort’s son, Walker, who was promoted to executive vice president this past June, added: “A new voice will benefit our organization as we work towards giving our fans the competitive team they deserve. We are setting our sights on finding the right leader from outside our organization who can bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies and enhance our baseball operations with a new vision, innovation and a focus on both short and long-term success.”

The Rockies, under Schmidt and Bridich before him, have enjoyed little to no success. Colorado hasn’t made the postseason since back-to-back Wild Card appearances in 2017-18. Those were just the fourth and fifth postseason berths of what is now the franchise’s 33-year history. The Rockies have never won the National League West. This year’s 43-119 record is the worst in franchise history and marks their third consecutive 100-loss season.

As Saunders points out in his piece, this year’s collective 6.65 ERA from the Rockies’ rotation is the worst mark by any club since earned run average became an officially tracked statistic back in 1913. Among the 12 pitchers to start a game for the Rockies this year, only Kyle Freeland (4.98), Ryan Feltner (4.75) and Ryan Rolison (0.00) had an ERA under 5.00. Feltner made only six starts due to injury. Rolison “started” one game, tossing a scoreless inning as an opener.

Schmidt’s four-plus seasons as general manager saw the Rockies move away from the prior core featuring notable veterans like Jon Gray, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and Ryan McMahon. While there have been some high points — the emergence of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and catcher Hunter Goodman, most notably — they’ve been vastly outweighed by missteps that have left the club with a roster devoid of talent and a barren farm system. Baseball America ranked the Rockies’ system 27th following this year’s draft and trade deadline — the same as when Schmidt took over as permanent general manager.

The Rockies have regularly opted not to trade players at peak value even in losing seasons, holding onto Story, Gray, German Marquez and Daniel Bard, among many others, when any could have been valuable trade chips at the deadline. Colorado netted a draft pick for Story’s departure when he rejected a qualifying offer and signed in Boston, but Gray simply left with no compensation for the organization. Bard, rather than being traded at the 2022 deadline, instead signed a two-year, $19MM extension that did not pan out well for the team. This year’s trade of McMahon to the Yankees marked a notable change in direction, but even that decision was arguably made a year too late. Schmidt was also in the GM chair when Colorado signed Kris Bryant to a disastrous $182MM contract, though that decision very likely falls more on ownership than the front office.

Beyond the team’s distaste for trading veteran players to bring in young talent, the Rockies haven’t capitalized on their perennially high selections in the amateur draft. Colorado hasn’t selected lower than tenth in the draft since 2019, but none of their top picks in that time — Charlie Condon, Chase Dollander, Gabriel Hughes, Benny Montgomery, Zac Veen — have made an impact on the team to date. Condon and Dollander remain promising, well-regarded young players, but Condon’s selection over likely AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz (who went to the A’s one pick later) now looks glaring, even if it was sensible at the time. The last Rockies day one pick with even one WAR, per Baseball-Reference, was Brendan Rodgers, whom they selected third overall back in 2015.

Overhauling this operation will be a daunting task — one that’ll surely take multiple years. The Rockies will need to significantly build out their baseball operations, analytics and player development departments and build a farm system practically from the ground up. That’ll need to happen without the benefit of shopping many players on the current roster, as the majority of their team possesses minimal trade value — as one would expect from a club that just lost 119 games. There are a handful of big leaguers who could bring back a notable return on the trade market, but Schmidt’s ouster has the feel of a total system reboot that could very well see the team extend its streak of 100-loss seasons.

Rockies Notes: Front Office, Marquez, Halvorsen

By | at

The Rockies are concluding one of the worst seasons in MLB history. They’ll come up just shy of 120 losses and are the only team since 1900 to be outscored by more than 400 runs. It led the historically loyal organization to fire manager Bud Black after a 7-33 start to the season. They’ve gone 36-84 under interim skipper Warren Schaeffer.

Walker Monfort, son of Rox’s owner Dick Monfort, was promoted to executive vice president in June. The team announced at the time that chief operating officer Greg Feasel would step aside at the end of the season. The team did not make any in-season changes to the baseball operations staff, yet that could happen in the next few weeks.

Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported on Thursday that the Rox are “likely” to make changes to the front office. That may extend to the top of baseball operations. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post wrote a couple weeks back that “it appears likely that (GM Bill Schmidt) will be fired or reassigned” at season’s end.

Schmidt has led baseball operations on a full-time basis since the 2021-22 offseason. He inherited a below-average roster from previous GM Jeff Bridich, but the results have gotten progressively worse. They lost 94 games during his first season and have lost 100+ games in each of the past three years — the first such seasons in franchise history.

No team has a worse record than Colorado’s 231-415 mark over the last four years. Schmidt had been in the organization for more than two decades before ascending to the GM role. He has been in the charge of the team’s amateur drafts since 2000. The Rox had brief runs of success during that time — highlighted by the National League pennant in 2007 — but only have five postseason appearances in a franchise history that dates back to 1993.

Whether they make a change atop baseball operations or not, the Rockies will need to decide whether to stick with Schaeffer as their permanent manager. They’re also likely to see the departure of one of their longest-tenured players. Germán Márquez made what’ll probably be his final start as a Rockie this evening. The impending free agent gave up six runs over 4 1/3 innings and took the loss. He finishes the season with a grisly 6.70 earned run average over 26 starts.

Márquez had much better seasons earlier in his career. He had a pair of sub-4.00 ERA seasons at Coors Field in 2018 and ’20 while securing an All-Star nod in 2021. Márquez has spent nine-plus seasons in Denver but is unlikely to return in free agency. Saunders wrote this evening that Colorado doesn’t intend to re-sign him.

The righty reflected on the run after making his final home start last weekend (link via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). “It was very, very emotional. It may have been the last game that I throw as a Rockie at Coors Field. I don’t know,” he acknowledged. “I was thinking about that the whole game. This is my home. I’ve been here for my whole career. I feel happy. I feel free here. But it’s baseball, and I need to see what’s going to happen.”

Márquez might well have been traded at this summer’s deadline had he not been placed on the injured list with biceps tendinitis in late July. The Rockies were more willing sellers than they’d been in previous seasons. They traded Ryan McMahon, Jake Bird and Tyler Kinley while at least hearing teams out on controllable relievers Seth Halvorsen and Victor Vodnik. They ended up holding both late-game arms.

Vodnik finished the season as the closer. Halvorsen went down immediately after the deadline with a mild flexor strain. That ended his season, but the fireballing righty has progressed to throwing off a mound as he prepares for the offseason (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s an unlikely offseason trade candidate coming off a season-ending elbow injury when he’s still under club control for five seasons. If he’s healthy, he’d have a good chance at beginning next year as the closer.

Rockies Place Chase Dollander On Injured List

By | at

September 13: The Rockies today officially announced Dollander’s placement on the injured list with a left patella tendon strain. Blalock was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move.

September 12: The Rockies will place Chase Dollander on the injured list with a knee injury, reports Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. The 2023 ninth overall pick would have been lined up to start Saturday’s game in San Diego.

Instead, it appears his rookie season will come to a slightly premature end. Dollander will technically be eligible to return in the final five days of the season, so it’s possible he makes one more start, but there’s no incentive for him to pitch through any kind of discomfort. He’ll likely finish his debut campaign with a 6.52 earned run average across 21 starts.

Dollander had a very difficult time pitching at Coors Field. He allowed nearly 10 earned runs per nine innings during his 11 home starts. His road numbers are much better. The 6’2″ righty pitched to a 3.46 ERA in 10 starts outside Denver. Dollander held opposing hitters to a .200/.297/.324 slash in his road starts. His strikeout (22.2%) and walk (11.3%) rates on the road aren’t as strong as the ERA or slash line, but there are at least some encouraging signs. That included a solid final appearance in Los Angeles on Monday, as Dollander held the Dodgers to one run on a lone hit with five strikeouts in as many innings.

The 23-year-old Dollander is the Rox’s most talented young pitcher. He’ll obviously need to be far more competitive at Coors Field to have long-term success. There’ll be plenty of opportunity to do so in a Colorado rotation that doesn’t project to be much better in 2026 than it was this season. Germán Márquez is likely to walk in free agency. Neither Tanner Gordon nor McCade Brown has pitched well enough to merit an Opening Day rotation spot. Antonio Senzatela performed so poorly this year that the Rox have demoted him to long relief. Dollander and Kyle Freeland should be joined by three offseason acquisitions.

Colorado will need to call up a fifth starter or run a bullpen game in Dollander’s place tomorrow. Bradley Blalock is on the 40-man roster and would probably be the choice if they recall a starting pitcher from Triple-A Albuquerque. Former first-round pick Gabriel Hughes could also be a consideration. He’s not on the 40-man but would need to be added this offseason if the Rockies don’t want to expose him to the Rule 5 draft. That could lead them to give Hughes a couple starts down the stretch, as they’re doing with Brown.

Matt Chapman Successfully Appeals Suspension

By | at

September 12: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Chapman’s appeal was successful and he will no longer have to serve a suspension, though the fine stands.

September 3: MLB has issued a one-game suspension to Giants third baseman Matt Chapman for “pushing” Kyle Freeland during last night’s game. Chapman and Freeland were each handed undisclosed fines, as were Willy Adames and Rafael Devers. Chapman appealed the suspension and is in the lineup tonight at third base against Germán Márquez.

The discipline stems from last night’s bench-clearing incident at Coors Field. Devers hit a sky high home run off Freeland in the top of the first inning. The Colorado pitcher took exception to Devers taking his time admiring the shot. They got into a shouting match by the time Devers reached first base and the benches emptied.

Chapman was one of the first players out of the San Francisco dugout and appeared to shove Freeland when he got to the mound. Adames, who was on deck for the Devers homer, was also in the mix. He and Freeland each swiped at one another and exchanged words, though the situation remained relatively innocuous. The benches and bullpens emptied, but it never really escalated into a brawl. Chapman, Adames and Freeland were all thrown out of the game. Devers was not ejected and completed his home run trot a few minutes later while Antonio Senzatela was warming up to replace Freeland.

The suspension isn’t of huge significance, though the Giants have won nine of their last 10 games to pull back into the periphery of the Wild Card race. Unless the ban is reversed on appeal, San Francisco will need to play a man short for whatever game Chapman sits out. Christian Koss would likely draw in at second base, moving Casey Schmitt to the hot corner.

Rockies Claim Roansy Contreras

By | at

The Rockies have claimed right-hander Roansy Contreras off waivers from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. The O’s designated him for assignment last week. The Rockies had an open 40-man spot after they optioned righty Nick Anderson and he exercised his right to elect free agency. Contreras is out of options, so the Rockies will need to open an active roster spot for him once he reports to the team.

Contreras, 25, has been in an awkward position for a while now. He exhausted his final option season with the Pirates in 2023 and was therefore out of options going into 2024. He has shown enough potential to draw plenty of interest from other clubs but often just enough to be the last guy on the roster.

The Pirates designated him for assignment in May of last year, which kicked off a rampage through the transaction logs. Over the next few months, via small trades or waiver claims, he went to the Angels, Rangers, Reds, Orioles, Yankees and Orioles again.

The O’s finally passed him through waivers unclaimed around Opening Day 2025, allowing them to keep him as non-roster depth. He tossed 91 2/3 innings for Triple-A Norfolk over 14 starts and 14 relief appearances. In that time, he had a 3.73 earned run average. His 8.4% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate were close to average but his 17.8% strikeout rate was subpar. The O’s called him up for one long relief appearance in the majors, in which he tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, but then sent him back into DFA limbo.

His previous big league work largely aligns with that recent Triple-A showing. He has thrown 239 major league innings with a 4.63 ERA, 19.6% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 39.3% ground ball rate.

He’s a sensible pickup for the Rockies, who almost always need more pitching. That’s certainly true this year, as their collective 6.01 ERA is easily the worst in the majors. The Nationals are second-last on that list but almost a full run better that Colorado at 5.33. They are about to lose Germán Márquez to free agency and released Austin Gomber not long ago.

Contreras is out of options but has just over two years of service time, meaning he can be retained for four seasons beyond this one. The Rockies can get a close-up look at him down the stretch here in 2025 and decide if they want to work him into their plans for 2026 and beyond. He has experience working both from the rotation and the bullpen and could potentially take either role with the Rockies.

Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top