The Colorado Rockies have never seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about free agency. The organization has a reputation for being insular, holding on to familiar players, and generally preferring to do things its own way. But just how different is…
Purple Row writer James Riggenbach analyzes the Colorado Rockies' free-agent activity from 2020 through 2026, arguing that the franchise has a major free-agency problem. Across those seven seasons, Colorado recorded only 90 major- and minor-league free-agent signings, which is 44% fewer than the average of their NL West rivals. The analysis highlights that Colorado significantly trailed the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Arizona Diamondbacks in total volume.
Riggenbach also finds that Colorado is the only NL West club with a negative combined return from its highest-earning free agents, totaling -3.5 rWAR. High-profile deals including Kris Bryant's seven-year, $182 million contract, Michael Lorenzen's $8 million deal, and Jurickson Profar's $7.75 million contract all yielded negative rWAR. Despite front-office additions Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes increasing trade moves in 2026, the Rockies remained division laggards in total free-agent agreements.
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