Most of us in life wish we could go back in time and change something. And everyone who has ever felt this way knows that you can’t.
You can’t go back and unsay that embarrassing thing you said. You can’t go back and undo that thing you wish you hadn’t done. You can’t go back and prevent your ballclub from making a series of decisions that have left them in the cellar with no light in sight.
You can only move forward. And so can the Colorado Rockies.
After enduring the two worst seasons in franchise history, the biggest news of the offseason has been the acquisition of second baseman Thairo Estrada who is, statistically, at best a replacement for the player they already had in Brendan Rodgers.
So why aren’t they doing more?
One answer, an incredibly popular one if you look around the internet, is that they simply do not care about winning or improving. That’s an easy answer if you wish to check out of the conversation entirely but if you wish to continue at all, you’ll need to dig deeper.
Another answer, one much closer to the truth of the matter, is that it doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Rockies to spend whatever resources they have trying to improve the MLB roster as it currently stands.
Even if they had unlimited funds, and they do not, and even if they didn’t have a strong disadvantage is negotiations due to reputations both earned and unearned – which they do – there just isn’t a combination of players that can be reasonably added in one offseason to turn perennial cellar dwellers into a postseason team. There’s more work to be done than that.
But the biggest reason is that, at this point, the team can’t be sure what their biggest needs are going to be over the next several seasons.
The only positive momentum that the entire franchise has is on the farm. Despite very little fanfare or media coverage surrounding it, in just two seasons the Rockies have gone from having zero Top 100 Prospects to having the second most of any team in baseball.
Of course, prospects can be a bit of a crapshoot, wish is very much the point.
Neither you, nor I, nor the Rockies can be sure who from the group of pitchers that features Chase Dollander, Sean Sullivan, Carson Palmquist, and Brody Brecht will pan out. They can’t be sure about Zac Veen or Jordan Beck’s health, whether Adael Amador can find consistency, or if the big power of Yanquiel Fernandez can be paired with enough contact.
It makes perfect sense to take some time to see which of these players takes the next step, and just as importantly, which ones don’t.
In the (incredibly unlikely) scenario, for example, of having every single one of these pitchers match or exceed expectations, it would become quickly problematic if the Rockies have some veteran locked up who they acquired in the offseason of 2025.
Similarly, it seems highly unlikely that they will have a need in the outfield given the pure numbers of players they can throw out there, but it still wouldn’t be impossible for Nolan Jones’ issues to continue, Veen and Beck to get derailed by injuries and Fernandez just not pan out.
If Amador is the answer at 2B, there is absolutely no need for the Rockies to look at middle infielders for the foreseeable future, being able to pair him with Ezequiel Tovar for the next decade. But if he doesn’t, they need to be prepared to go a different direction.
Their highest-rated prospect, and their newest, Charlie Condon is capable of playing any corner spot which means maybe he is an outfielder if those other guys don’t pan out or maybe he takes over at 1B if the Michael Toglia era never manifests. Perhaps he forces Ryan McMahon off third.
The myriad of possibilities with just this one player is a perfect embodiment of where the Rockies find themselves right now. There are too many variables to be 100 percent sure of the future at any position beyond SS and CF and they need to be prepared for a multitude of possibilities.
There still needs to be a proactive mindset here. This isn’t exactly “wait and see” mode. Rather “test and react” mode.
Colorado was aggressive last year in pushing Beck and Amador but injuries and performance didn’t allow for quite enough research to be done to decide what to do next. But the timetables are lining up now.
All of these players are knocking on the door to the Bigs. Like always, some won’t make it. But just based on how many of them exist, we are set to see a lot of MLB debuts in 2025 which means there is much observation to be done.
Perhaps next offseason, or perhaps as early as this trade deadline, the Rockies will have a much better idea of what they have and what they don’t in this incredibly talented group of young players.
Once that picture becomes clear, it would behoove them to survey the landscape for veterans to add to the mix. But until they know what they have in the young guys, they don’t know who to target in the “old” guys.