The Rockies hit the offseason in need of a new head of baseball operations/GM, a new manager, and plenty of new players. None of these holes will be easy to fill, as the franchise just completed a 43-119 campaign, their 3rd-straight 100+ loss season.

A Bright Spot
26-year-old catcher Hunter Goodman was a breakout star, compiling 31 HRs, 91 RBIs, and a 3.73 WAR through 2025. He combines with INF Warming Bernabel & Ezequiel Tovar to represent a small core of players to build around.

A Big Concern
Front Office Misses. From buying out Nolan Arenado, to recklessly signing Kris Bryant, with a whole lot of middling swing and miss signings in between, Colorado can’t seem to catch a break with their roster decisions. Ownership won’t be keen on giving the next front office much room for error in this regard, as the team continues to spend money on a sinking ship.

Related Links
2026 Rockies Financials
MLB Offseason Guides

Pending Free Agents

Flipping the switch forward, SP Germán Márquez & SS Orlando Arcia are pending free agents. Both struggled mightily in 2025 and are expected to hit the open market.

Option Decisions

2B Thairo Estrada holds a $10M mutual option in 2026, but it’s largely expected that the team will decline that, reverting him back to arbitration status this season. The only other option decision belongs to INF Kyle Farmer, who holds a $4M mutual option that the team is also expected to decline.




PLAYER
OPTION SALARY




Thairo Estrada (2B, 29)
$7M mutual option ($750k buyout


Kyle Farmer (SS, 35)
$4M mutual option ($750k buyout)

Arbitration-Eligibility

7 players are currently slated for arbitration, led by 2B Thairo Estrada & OF Brenton Doyle both of whom could garner salaries north of $3M this season. The group combines for $16.25M of projected payroll.

Guaranteed Salary

OF/1B Kris Bryant has now spent 4 years in Colorado, reeling in $104 million while compiling a -1.85 WAR over that span. SP Kyle Freeland ($16M) can unlock a $17M player option in 2027 if he completes 170 innings in 2026. Ezequiel Tovar’s pre-arbitration extension runs through 2031, carrying a cost-effective $9M tax salary.

Team Tax Projections

All said, this leaves Colorado with a CBT starting point of roughly $117M, $126M under the 2026 threshold. Plenty of room for plenty of needs, and an awful lot on the plate for a brand new front office.