What Might the Rockies Do at the Trade Deadline?

The clock is ticking — really ticking — for the MLB trade deadline, which is next Thursday, July 31 at 4:00 pm MDT. General managers across the league have their phones charged and are ready to make some deals.

In recent days, the trade market became clearer, in part, thanks to the 26-76 Colorado Rockies, who managed to win series with the Minnesota Twins and the St. Louis Cardinals. Given that the Arizona Diamondbacks were swept by the Houston Astros, it seems likely that those teams will become sellers.

And that brings us to the historically bad (but improving!) Colorado Rockies.

National media has largely given up trying to predict what the Rockies will do, and with good reason. The Rockies are insular with a tendency to overvalue their players and keep their favorites in service of a “we’re just a few pieces away” fantasy.

Surely, many of those notions have been disabused during a season in which the Rockies only managed to win their first home series earlier this week, got their first shoutout in 220 games, and have yet to win 30. These kinds of facts do a great deal to burst a delusional bubble that “adding just a couple of guys” will take the Rockies to Rocktober.

No one knows what’s going on in the Rockies front office, but this year, they have received the kind of wake-up call that is impossible to ignore: This is not a good team, and it won’t be for some time.

I’m a bit of an outlier in that I believe the Rockies will be active sellers. In a week, you may be in a position to send me emails detailing just how wrong I was, and I will deserve them. But I’ve been in the Rockies clubhouse enough to know that no one is kidding themself about what this team is. The Rockies do not have a lot to sell, but it’s time to move what they can because there’s no way this is a viable team in the next three years. That needs to be their approach.

(I wrote about this in early June, but since then, I’ve become even more seller-focused.)

Here are my predictions, which are worth what you’ve paid for them.

But first, a caveat: The Rockies will not move Ezequiel Tovar.

He’s on a team-friendly contract (seven years at $63.5 million), and he has become the spark plug that makes the engine run in the vehicle that is the Colorado Rockies. Seriously, they started playing better when Tovar was back on the field. He makes everything work. The Rockies know that, and they plan to build around him.

Anyone else, though, I think they would be willing to hear offers for.

Germán Mârquez — His recent shoulder issue (biceps tendinitis) and 10-day IL stint make him a poor choice for any contending team. That’s too bad because over his last six starts, Márquez has been very good, and I’d like to see him play for a good team.

But I don’t see his health facilitating that, and, frankly, I think the Rockies are fine with keeping him in Denver. I would not be surprised to see them sign a short extension with him during the offseason.

Ryan McMahon — After the D-backs move Eugenio Suárez, McMahon’s market will become clear. Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates are said to be willing to trade Ke’Bryan Hayes, but he lacks the power that McMahon brings with him. (Read more about Hayes here.) In other words, if Suárez has all the offensive pop and Hayes is the third-base vacuum, McMahon combines the best of both worlds: an elite defender who can hit 20 home runs and take a walk.

Where do I think he’ll go? The New York Yankees.

They were rumored to be interested in him last year, and they have the same need this year. I watched the Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday — the one with four errors — and their need for him is acute. Plus, the Rockies have dealt with them before.

Based on reporting, other destinations might include the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and the Chicago Cubs.

I suspect McMahon has made peace with his fate — there’s no reporting this year that he’s asked not be be traded, and, to be fair, last year, and he his wife were new parents. He’s a terrific person, and I‘ll miss him if he’s moved, but it’s the right thing to do.

Austin Gomber — In watching Gomber over his last two starts, his frustration has been clear: He wanted to be good, and he just wasn’t. This is, I suspect the result of two things: wanting to get out of Denver and on a contending team as a way to set himself up for free agency. (To be clear, these are reasonable desires.)

I think the Rockies will try very hard to trade him, despite his 6.03 ERA in 34.1 IP. And given the dearth of starting pitching, some clubs may gave him a serious look. After all, he’s still got a good curveball, and he’s a flyball pitcher who was never well suited to pitching at elevation. Does he get traded? Maybe – I’m 50-50 on this one.

But if he goes anywhere, I think it’s to the Toronto Blue Jays or New York Mets. Both need pitching, and they play in very different environments than the Rockies do. Were I a gambling person, though, I would say he finishes the season with the Rockies.

Thairo Estrada — When the Rockies signed Estrada during the offseason, they surely hoped to flip him at the deadline — he’d always played well at Coors Field — and he surely hoped to get himself back in the national conversation as a second baseman.

His luck could not have been worse as he is now on his third injury while with the Rockies, two the result of being hit by pitches and the third caused by an awkward slide into third. He’s expected to rejoin the Rockies this weekend, but time is growing short.

Currently, he’s had 116 at-bats and is slashing .312/.397/.709 with a 90 OPS+.

Probably, the Rockies will try to trade him, but I doubt there’s a market for a second baseman who’s seen limited action in 2025 and seems to be continuing an injury history that began in 2024. The question, then, becomes what the Rockies will do with their bumper crop of second baseman (Estrada, Ryan Ritter, and Adael Amador). I suspect if Estrada is not traded, he will be DFA’d following the trade deadline to make room for some Rockies prospects.

Veteran Relievers — Here, I have two primary pitchers in mind: Tyler Kinley and Jimmy Herget. The latter has quietly been very good this season, especially on the road (1.23 ERA away and 4.06 ERA at Coors), and I see little reason to think he’ll stay with the Rockies. He’s the kind of reliever they’ve had success flippping.

As for Tyler Kinley, the ERA (5.91) does not reflect his season and the wickedness of his slider. I see both players moving to other teams, especially given the need for relief pitching, which includes, well, everyone, but especially the Cubs, Phillies, and Mets. But if I have to choose between the two, I’d go with Herget getting traded while Kinley continues with the Rockies.

Younger Relievers — For me, there are three players in question here: Jake Bird (3.ERA in 52.1 IP), Victor Vodnik (3.00 ERA in 30.0 IP), and Seth Halvorsen (5.02 ERA in 37.2 IP) in whom the Mets have interest. Both Vodnik and Halvorsen could be closers for those looking for late-game help.

I tend to think the Rockies will move one but not all three.

Then again, given the pitching market and the fact that the Rockies will not be contending in 2026, moving them when their value is high would make sense. I’m not going to say who goes where – except not to the Los Angeles Dodgers — but I think at least one of these players is gone.

However, here’s what The Athletic reported last night:

The Colorado Rockies are listening to trade offers for reliever Victor Vodnik, but the asking price is high, league sources said. Similarly, the Rockies would entertain calls on reliever Seth Halvorsen, but would want a big return.

Each pitcher is under club control for a handful of seasons. Vodnik, 25, isn’t a free agent until after the 2029 season. Halvorsen, also 25, doesn’t reach free agency until after the 2030 season.

It’s the Rockies, so anything could happen, but they are clearly sellers, and this is a ripe part of the market.

(Read more about the Rockies relievers here.)

Mickey Moniak — I’ve seen speculation about Moniak (see here and here), and I’m doubtful. I think he’s benefitting from playing at Coors, but I don’t see a big market for him. I mean, maybe, but he’s been in the league for awhile and never seen sustained success, so it seems unlikely to me that a true contender would be interested.

But who knows? He’s a former first-round draft pick currently slashing .275/.324/.541 with 15 homers. At Coors Field, he’s got a 173 OPS+ while that drops to 92 on the road. In addition, he’s been a below-average defender, I think he will finish with the Rockies though more due to the lack of a market than any reticence on the Rockies’ part.

Maybe there’s interest in Hunter Goodman or Kyle Freeland or Brenton Doyle, but I see them as less attractive trade candidates. Then again, Freeland skipped his most-recent Coors Field start, which seems odd to me, and a move to the Cubs would not be out of the question.

For now, we’ll have to turn on our alerts and wait for the action to start.

Prediction: I think the Rockies will make five trades.

Next week, we’ll see how it went.

What I’m Reading

• Rockies to select Nick Anderson | MLB Trade Rumors — Anderson is a veteran reliever, and this is the kind of move a team might make if preparing to, say, trade Tyler Kinley and/or Jimmy Herget.

• Rockies fans are OK with letting Ryan McMahon go: "It's just time to move on" | Denver Post — Sean Keeler spoke with fans at Wednesday’s game who’d come out to perhaps see Ryan McMahon’s last game as a Rockie. They were sad about he possibility of his leaving, but had made their peace with it. Fellow fans, I see you.

Closing Thoughts

And that’s it for this week.

Now to see how the Rockies fare on the road as the travel to Baltimore (another struggling team) and Cleveland (we get to watch José Ramírez play!). It will surely be a nerve-wracking trip for a number of Rockies players.

On a personal note, I was a little sad when watching Wednesday’s Cardinals-Rockies game because it may have been the last time we see some of these players at Coors Field as Rockies. Life goes on and all that, but I’ll miss seeing them in purple.

Bud Black would say, I think, “That’s baseball.”

As always, thanks for reading!

Renee

Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball. Find me on Bluesky at @ReneeDechert.com.

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