Every hire an indictment of last season. Or the last seven.

Admit it, you grew disgusted with the Rockies. Might have stopped going to games, leaving great seats for opposing team’s fans. Maybe you gave up on them entirely.

Hard to blame you. The product the past three years has been major league baseball in name only.

A decade too late, the Rockies abandoned their insular thinking, fired dead weight president Greg Feasel and general manager Bill Schmidt. They ditched their AOL account. Exchanged their flip phones. And turned on Bluetooth.

The Rockies are connected to reality, harsh as it is. They are no longer in a state of denial.

With Walker Monfort in charge, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and GM Josh Byrnes have been entrusted to excavate the Rockies from the ruins.

The first step on a 1,000-mile journey begins Friday in the season opener at Miami.

Could it be possible that arguably the worst team in baseball history won’t even be the worst team in baseball this season?

There is a plan. So, there is a chance. “We’re Here For The Climb” is the team’s marketing slogan. It is catchier than “Now We Suck Less Than Ever.”

The Rockies are asking for patience, recognizing this is likely a three-year project to return to relevance.

They will be bad. But they will not be boring.

The days of enjoyment will outnumber the days of embarrassment.

There are a few reasons why. DePodesta has infused analytics into a Rockies organization that had been living in the Stone Age. And manager Warren Schaeffer hired coaches who understand the information and can deliver it to players in a snackable fashion.

“The magic isn’t in the word analytics. It has been around 25 years with Paul,” Schaeffer said. “He’s not some nerd who lives in the stratosphere. He’s a great baseball guy. It is going to make us more efficient.”

DePodesta and Byrnes reconfigured the rotation around veterans with a plethora of pitches. Nothing is more demoralizing for a team trying to regain its balance than having its outcome determined by the third inning.

“How many sports in the world when you have the ball in your hand are you not on offense? Our pitchers have to adopt that mentality. Yeah we are going to give up some hits and we are going to give up some homers. That happens (at Coors Field),” DePodesta said. “We can’t back down. We are going to relentlessly attack. Look, it might be a 15-round heavyweight fight. We might get bloodied. But we’ve got to knock the other guy out.”

It is a change in mindset bordering on a lobotomy.

The Rockies want to be on offense. Especially when they are on offense.

Anyone familiar with baseball at altitude knows pitching remains a problem. It will always be difficult. But the fact that the Rockies could not hit the past two seasons was absurd.

No stadium awards contact like Coors Field. And the Rockies, instead, became human windmills, a trait amplified on the road where they averaged an MLB-worst 10.4 strikeouts per game over the past two years.

This must change, starting at LoanDepot Park on Friday night. There is no excuse for chasing and swinging and missing at this rate.

“There is no doubt we have to get more guys on base. We have to have more balls in play,” DePodesta said.

The additions of super utilityman Willi Castro and TJ Rumfield provide a lens into how the Rockies’ brass wants to reshape and improve.

Castro brings lineup and positional versatility. He was an All-Star in 2024, delivering 48 extra-base hits. Even in a disappointing 2025 season, he struck out 24.4% of the time. Ryan McMahon, by comparison, whiffed in 32.2% of his plate appearances.

Rumfield, the projected starting first baseman, struck out 18.3% in Triple-A. Michael Toglia, ditched by new management, posted a 39.1% K rate last season.

The best Rockies lineups have always offered a blend of characteristics.

“We need to be able to look at an individual, at his strengths, and determine how that puzzle piece fits. It is hard to find a guy who hits for average, gets on base, has power and is a great defender. Those are Hall of Famers,” said DePodesta. “But if we can find guys who have elements of those and put the pieces together in just the right way, then as a team we can do all those things and cover for individual weaknesses. I do think we are going to be developing hitters who fit as winning pieces that ultimately will be part of a larger puzzle.”

Ambush in hitter’s counts. Run a little bit, forever a foreign concept. Put pressure on the defense. Schaeffer is poised to be more aggressive. It won’t translate in the standings, but the offense will have a few electrified strings on the acoustic guitar.

The Rockies are more equipped to do damage with shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who has legit pop, and a healthy Brenton Doyle. Mickey Moniak brings 25-home-run potential as the primary DH, and Jordan Beck and Jake McCarthy should combine for 25 dingers.  Catcher Hunter Goodman returns as a slugging All-Star and, in an ideal world, top prospect Charlie Condon is hitting No. 2 in the lineup by July.

It is fine if you don’t give the Rockies the benefit of the doubt. They betrayed fans’ trust and loyalty for far too long.

They will have to improve by 20 wins to avoid becoming only the second team to lose 100 games in four straight seasons, joining the Washington Senators (1961-64).

The starting pitching and the hitting have not been the only problems since 2023. It has been everything.

There are times this season they are going to stink.

But they are going to compete.

Nobody is going to make any kind of promise. But, there will be progress, if not twinkles of excitement.

The Rockies added three veteran starters — Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Jose Quintana — to stabilize a rotation that posted an all-time worst 6.65 ERA last season. A new front office, led by the president of baseball operations, Paul DePodesta, also added outfielder Jake McCarthy, second baseman Willi Castro, and first baseman TJ Rumfield, all of whom will likely start on Opening Day.

Here is the Rockies’ 26-man roster for Friday’s game vs. the Marlins in Miami:

Starting Rotation

LHP Kyle Freeland

Freeland, the longest-tenured Rockie on the roster and a clubhouse leader, faces a critical season. The Denver native is entering what could be the final year of his contract, so he needs a solid season, not only for the team’s rebuild but for his own future. The lefty was 5-17 with a 4.98 ERA last season.

Key 2025 number: 14. Number of quality starts, most on the team. Freeland was 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in those starts.

Worth noting: Freeland must pitch 170 innings this season to trigger his $17 million vesting option with Colorado.

RHP Tomoyuki Sugano

The Rockies signed the 36-year-old veteran to bring a veteran presence to the rotation. During his legendary career in Japan, he was known for his durability. He made 30 starts for Baltimore last season, his first in the majors, while posting a 4.64 ERA.

Key 2025 number: 33. Home runs he gave up last season with the Orioles, the most in the American League. How is that going to play at Coors Field?

Worth noting: Sugano pitched 12 seasons for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball, where he won two Sawamura Awards (Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award) in 2017 and 2018, and three MVP Awards in 2014, 2020 and 2024.

LHP Jose Quintana

He’s 37, but he’s crafty and considered a clubhouse leader. That’s why the Rockies signed him to a one-year $6 million contract in hopes he can improve a shaky rotation.

Key 2025 number: 3.96. His ERA across 24 starts for Milwaukee, which helped the Brewers post the best regular-season record in the majors.

Worth noting: Since 2022, the lefty has a 3.53 ERA that ranks in the top 40 among any pitcher with at least 300 innings over the last four seasons.

RHP Michael Lorenzen

The 34-year-old journeyman was Colorado’s biggest offseason expenditure, signing a free-agent deal that pays him $8 million this season and includes a club option worth $9 million in 2027. He’s the poster boy for Colorado’s plan to have its pitchers expand their repertoires. According to Lorenzen, he throws eight different pitches: three different fastballs, two kinds of changeups, a slider, a sweeper, and a curve.

Key 2025 number: 8.1. Strikeouts per nine innings last season with Kansas City, a career high.

Worth noting: He threw a no-hitter for the Phillies against the Nationals on August 9, 2023, walking four and striking out five.

RHP Ryan Feltner

The Rockies have long believed that Feltner has the stuff to dominate hitters. New pitching coach Alon Leichman says the right-hander has All-Star potential. But Feltner must stay healthy and needs to command his pitches better than he did in spring training.

Key 2025 number: 30.1. Big-league innings pitched last season, when injuries limited Feltner to just six starts.

Worth noting: In 2024, Feltner posted a 2.98 ERA over his last 15 starts, the first Rockies starter with a sub-3.00 ERA in a 15-start span since German Marquez during his All-Star campaign in 2021.

Bullpen

RHP Victor Vodnik

The right-hander throws hard (98.7 mph fastball) and attacks hitters. The Rockies love that about him, even if they aren’t going to start the season with a designated closer. Vodnik had some ups and downs last season, but he posted a 1.07 ERA with eight saves in nine opportunities over his final 17 appearances.

Key 2025 number: 10. Saves last season in 15 opportunities.

Worth noting: Posted a 1.33 ERA in 26 games at Coors Field last season, the lowest home ERA in franchise history (minimum 25 innings pitched).

RHP Zach Agnos

The Rockies expect big things from the right-hander in his second season. He had a terrific spring training, posting a 0.82 WHIP as he pounded the strike zone.

Key 2025 number: 12.33. ERA over his final 16 appearances as he battled an elbow injury.

Worth noting: Was 4 for 4 in save opportunities last season, becoming the first player in franchise history to record a save in his first four career save opportunities.

RHP Jimmy Herget

The veteran with the unique delivery was Colorado’s best pitcher last season. His 2.48 ERA was the 10th-lowest by a reliever in franchise history, the lowest since Daniel Bard’s 1.79 ERA in 2022. Herget could play several roles this season, including opener or piggyback reliever if the Rockies use that strategy.

Key 2025 number: 1.67. Road ERA in 31 appearances was the fourth-lowest among all relievers (minimum 30 innings pitched).

Worth noting: Rob Friedman, an analyst who runs The Pitching Ninja website, nicknamed Herget “The Human Glitch.”

LHP Brennan Bernardino

Desperate for a left-hander in the bullpen, the Rockies acquired Bernardino from the Red Sox in exchange for outfield prospect Braiden Ward. Bernardino, 34, put up a solid 3.14 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over 55 outings last year. Opponents hit just .205 against him.

Key 2025 number: 4.5. Walks per nine innings last season, a high number that would haunt him at Coors Field.

Worth noting: During his early years in the minors, Bernardino worked as a Lyft driver, warehouse stocker, and construction laborer to supplement his income.

RHP Jaden Hill

He made the team when hard-throwing right-hander Seth Halvorsen was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs late in spring training. Hill made his debut last season and fared well, posting a 3.38 ERA in 28 games.

Key 2025 number: 5.28. His ERA at Coors Field in 15 appearances vs. a 1.19 ERA in 13 appearances on the road.

Worth noting: Hill worked overtime on his slider during spring training, a pitch he needs to be more effective vs. left-handed hitters.

RHP Chase Dollander

The right-hander’s erratic spring training landed him in the bullpen to begin the season. Still, he has the biggest upside of any Rockies pitcher since Ubaldo Jimenez, despite major growing pains last season as a rookie when he was 2-12 with a 6.52 ERA.

Key 2025 number: 9.98. His ERA in 11 starts at Coors Field, including 12 home runs served up in 51 innings.

Worth noting: The right-hander’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.8 mph last season, ranking in the top 6% in the majors.

RHP Juan Mejia

Started last season with Triple-A Albuquerque and was promoted to the Rockies on April 24. He impressed Colorado’s staff, especially manager Warren Schaeffer, with his sharp fastball-slider combination.

Key 2025 number: 3.96. His ERA over 55 big-league appearances. Not bad for a rookie reliever.

Worth noting: Pitched 33 consecutive outings without allowing a home run (June 11-Aug. 31), the longest streak for a Rockies reliever since Justin Lawrence’s 37-game stretch in 2023.

RHP Antonio Senzatela

The veteran right-hander started last season as a starter but finished in the bullpen after hitters continually feasted on his fastball. The Rockies worked to expand his repertoire this spring.

Key 2025 number: .347. Opponents’ average against Senzatela, which was the highest in the majors last season.

Worth noting: Senzatela will make $12 million this season, and there is a $14 million club option for 2027.

Catcher

Hunter Goodman

Colorado’s lone All-Star last season wants to keep raking, but he also wants to improve his skills behind the plate. His 31 home runs, 150 hits, 64 extra-base hits, and 91 RBIs were all the most by a Rockies’ primary catcher in a single season in franchise history.

Key 2025 number: Seven. Home runs hit in the ninth inning last season, the second most in the majors behind Seattle star Cal Raleigh (eight).

Worth noting: Last season, Goodman was the first NL catcher to hit 30 home runs in a season since the Braves’ Javy Lopez hit 43 in 2003.

Brett Sullivan

The 32-year-old has played in just 43 big-league games, including three with Pittsburgh last season, with a slash line of .204/.250/.291. But the Rockies like his defense, so they picked him over Braxton Fulford as the backup catcher.

Key 2025 number: .167. His batting average in three games with the Pirates.

Worth noting: He’s out of options, so he’ll need to stick on the major league roster or be exposed to waivers.

First base

TJ Rumfield

Acquired from the Yankees in an offseason trade for reliever Angel Chivilli, Rumfield will likely make his major league debut on Friday. Rumfield posted above-average numbers at every stop in the minors, including his nearly two full seasons in Triple-A.

Key 2025 number: 16. Home runs hit last season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Worth noting: The left-handed hitter went unselected in last December’s Rule 5 draft.

Troy Johnston

The Rockies claimed the 28-year-old left-hander off waivers from the Marlins in November after he hit .277 with four homers in 44 games. At Triple-A Jacksonville, he slashed 252/.333/.439, with 12 homers, over 84 games.

Key 2025 number: 108. Innings he played at first base last season — without making an error.

Worth noting: In 2023, he was the Marlins’ minor league player of the year.

Second base

Willi Castro

Signed to a two-year, $12.8 million deal in January, he provides Colorado with infield versatility because he can play second, third and shortstop, as well as all three outfield positions. He was an All-Star with the Twins in 2024.

Key 2025 number: .226. Batting average last season with the Cubs, a big step down from his .244 career average.

Worth noting: Castro, a switch-hitter, has good speed and the Rockies hope he can help spark their running game.

Edouard Julien

Acquired in a trade with Minnesota, Julien can play both first and second base. He’s hoping to regain the magic of this 2023 rookie season with the Twins when he posted a .263/.381/.459 slash line with 16 home runs. Since then, however, Julien has struggled, producing a .623 OPS over 509 plate appearances from 2024-25.

Key 2025 number: .220. His batting average with the Twins last season when he played in only 64 games.

Worth noting: Julien, who was born in Quebec, played for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

Third base

Kyle Karros

Many, including Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer, believe Castro can be a Gold Glove third baseman. However, he has work to do at the plate. In 43 games as a rookie last season, Karros slashed .226/.308/.277 with four doubles, just one home run, and nine RBIs.

Key 2025 number: .306. Average in 16 Triple-A games last season before his promotion to the Rockies.

Worth noting: He’s the son of Eric Karros, who played 14 seasons in the majors, most of them with the Dodgers. Eric had a career .268 batting average and slugged 284 homers.

Shortstop

Ezequiel Tovar

A Gold Glove winner in 2024, Tovar suffered from hip and oblique injuries during a disappointing 2025 season. He’s primed for a comeback season and is Colorado’s best position player.

Key 2025 number: 95. Number of games played last season, hitting .253 with nine home runs.

Worth noting: Tovar was outstanding for the Venezuelan team that won the WBC. In six games, he hit .471 (8 for 17) with three doubles and two steals.

Left field

Jake McCarthy

Seeking speed and versatility, Colorado acquired McCarthy from the Diamondbacks in January for minor league right-hander Josh Grosz. The left-handed-hitting McCarthy, 28, slashed .260/.324/.381 with 24 home runs and 83 steals across five seasons with Arizona.

Key 2025 number: .204. Big-league average last season that included just four home runs and 20 RBIs. He played 49 games at Triple-A Reno, where he batted .314.

Worth noting: According to Statcast, McCarthy ranks in the 99th percentile in sprint speed in the majors.

Center field

Brenton Doyle

In 2023-24, he became the first outfielder in National League history to win a Gold Glove in his first two major league seasons. But he had a difficult 2025 season offensively when he hit just .233 with 15 home runs.

Key 2025 number: .344. Batting average, including seven home runs and 22 RBIs in August.

Worth noting: Hit just .193 (53-for-274) over 71 games entering July last season.

Right field

Jordan Beck

Beck seems primed for a breakout season as he moves from left field to right field. Last season, he was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on April 7 after starting the season 3-for-20 (.150) over nine games, but was recalled on April 19 and put together a solid .258/.416/.732 slash line and 16 home runs.

Key 2025 number: 19. Stolen bases, most on the club.

Worth noting: He had 12 outfield assists last season, the second-most in the majors and tied for the third-most outfield assists in a single season by a Colorado outfielder since 2007.

Designated hitter/right fielder

Mickey Moniak

Signed by Colorado just a day before the 2025 season opener, Moniak had a breakout year, setting career highs in games (135), runs (62), hits (117), triples (eight), home runs (24), RBIs (68) and stolen bases (nine). He’ll be counted on to spark Colorado’s offense.

Key 2025 number: Four. Consecutive games in which he homered, from Sept. 14-18. He became the first Rockie to homer in four straight since Ryan McMahon from May 26-29, 2023.

Worth noting: Was selected first overall by the Phillies in the 2016 MLB draft.

Bench/Utility

Ryan Ritter

Last year, after mashing at Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque, Ritter got his big-league call-up on June 6 and batted .241/.296/.337 in 60 games with nine doubles, three triples, and one home run. He played mostly second base with occasional stints at shortstop.

Key 2025 number: .206. His batting average on the road in 24 games. Like most of his teammates, he was a much better hitter at Coors Field, where he hit .261 in 36 games.

Worth noting: Ritter got some playing time in left field during spring training, adding to his versatility.

Explain, please.

“Not just be a player, but one of the best third basemen in the game,” the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Rockies rookie said.

On a rebuilding team, coming off a 119-loss season, Karros is intent on being part of the turnaround by playing 24-karat defense at the hot corner and becoming an offensive force — starting this season.

“Realistically, in order for us to get this team turned in the right direction, I don’t think it����ap just going to be a matter of, ‘Oh, this guy squeaked out a spot on the roster over this guy,’ ” Karros said. “It����ap going to take players taking a big step and showing that they are some of the best players in the game.”

During a one-on-one meeting early in spring training, he shared his lofty goal with manager Warren Schaeffer.

“I had this conversation with ‘Schaeff,’ and I told him that the expectations for myself are set at a pretty high standard,” Karros said. “We talked about what I wanted to get out of this camp. That, truth be told, I’m not here to beat out someone else or win a spot. I’m here to be a dude in the big leagues.”

So, does ‘Schaeff’ believe in Karros’ dude mentality?

“Oh, yeah,” the manager said without hesitation.

Rockies fans might be surprised by the spring bravado. After all, in 43 games last season, Karros didn’t exactly mash. After a hot start — 4 for 11 with two doubles in his first three games — he cooled off, finishing the season with a .226/.308/.277 slash line with four doubles, just one home run, nine RBIs, 15 walks (9.6% BB-rate) and 41 strikeouts (26.3% K-rate).

Schaeffer says those late-season numbers were misleading.

“Rockies fans, last year, watching Kyle Karros, have to realize that he was 20 pounds underweight and he had pretty much gone through his first full professional season,” Schaeffer said, noting that Karros was down to 210 pounds by the end of the season. “And getting called up, and getting thrown into the fire, without his best body, and without his best ability at the time? And still see flashes of good stuff? Kyle Karros has the potential to be a Gold Glove defender at third base for a long time.

“And he’s going to hit. He’s got long levers, he’s got the baseball acumen, he wants it. Now he just has to go out there and do it.”

Major League pedigree

A big part of that acumen comes from his father, Eric Karros, who played 14 seasons in the majors, most of them with the Dodgers. Eric had a career .268 batting average and slugged 284 homers. He said his son has the physical skills and intangibles to eclipse his career.

“Kyle’s desire to be great and be the best at whatever he does is 100%,” Eric said.

Eric and his wife, Trish, were at Chase Field on Aug. 8 last season when their son made his major league debut against the Diamondbacks and witnessed his first big-league hit in his first at-bat. There were hugs, and proof that there is crying in baseball.

In the dugout, after hitting an RBI single off Zac Gallen, Kyle made the mistake of catching a video of the TV broadcast.

“The camera panned to my dad and mom,” he recalled. “They were getting emotional. Then I started tearing up in the dugout. I was just trying to analyze how Gallen pitched to me in my first at-bat. I ended up walking away from the iPad with some tears in my eyes.”

Eric used to work overtime on his hitting, the very essence of a baseball cage rate. He was, and remains, obsessive about baseball, even now as he works as an announcer for select Dodgers games.

“Kyle’s very different from me,” he said, laughing. “I lived in the batting cage. Even now, I eat, breathe, and sleep baseball. That might be kind of screwed up. I don’t know.

“Kyle will take groundballs forever, and I know he will do anything to compete. But he knows how to get away from things better than I did. That’s good.”

At 19, Kyle was “kind of lanky and awkward,” according to his dad, who added, “Maybe people didn’t see the kind of body he would grow into.”

Injuries during his collegiate career at UCLA caused Kyle to fall a bit on the draft board, and he slid to the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. But he rocketed through the minors.

He earned MVP honors in the High-A Northwest League in 2024, when he led Spokane to the championship by slashing .311/.390/.485 in 123 games. Last year, he impressed at Double-A Hartford, hitting .294 with four homers among his 23 extra-base hits over 55 games. In a 16-game stint at Triple-A, he hit .306 with two homers, four doubles and a triple.

When the Rockies shipped Ryan McMahon to the Yankees at the trade deadline, room opened up at third base. Colorado baseball fans, used to seeing sparkling plays, first by Nolan Arenado, and then by McMahon, could be in for more acrobatics at third base.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘At 6-5, there’s no way Kyle can play third base,” Eric said. “But, I know it’s going to sound corny, but Kyle looks effortless at third base, it’s pretty to watch. It’s smooth, that’s the best way to describe it.”

Growing pains

Regarding his son’s relatively rough start at the plate last season, Eric said he’s not the slightest bit concerned.

“Last year, getting a taste of the big leagues and getting called up when he did is probably the best thing that could have happened for Kyle,” he said. “The exposure he got, against some of the game’s best pitchers, showed that he can play at this level and hold his own.”

The pitchers Kyle faced during his first 43 games included Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner), Dodgers ace lefty Blake Snell, three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, and Dodgers’ World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“Offensively, the production, obviously, wasn’t there for me,” Kyle said. “But honestly, I never felt like I was overmatched by any of the pitchers or pitches that I saw. And I faced some pretty legitimate pitchers while I was up.

“I do think there is some natural swing stuff that I had to clean up. I’m working on that. You have to, because you get a lot fewer pitches to hit in the majors than you do in the minors. So, when you miss your pitch, it����ap definitely going to make it hard. I definitely felt that. I’ll work to adjust.”

His manager expects significant growth this spring.

“Kyle knows how this game works,” Schaeffer said. “He knows that nothing is given to you. I think a lot of that has to do with growing up in the clubhouse, along with his dad. He gets it.”

Colorado acquired Jake McCarthy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Josh Grosz. McCarthy is coming off a down year with Arizona, but his past suggests the potential for his bat to help the Rockies lineup.

With the move, is full, and the Rockies have another option in an outfield that is returning its top three contributors last year in Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak.

Beyond those three and McCarthy, other outfielders currently on the 40-man include up-and-comers Yanquiel Fernández and Zac Veen, utilitymen Tyler Freeman and Troy Johnston, and the yet-to-debut Sterlin Thompson.

With a superfluous nine outfielders on the 40-man, the McCarthy trade could be a set-up move to get the Rockies in position to trade another one of their current outfielders, perhaps in exchange for pitching sometime before the start of the regular season. Or, it could allow the Rockies to waive an outfielder at some point during spring training to free up a roster spot for a different position.

28, was a first-round pick by Arizona out of the University of Virginia in 2018. After debuting in 2021, he came on strong in 2022, slashing .283/.342/.427 with a .769 OPS and 2.4 bWAR to finish fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. He can play all three outfield spots, and his stock continued to rise in 2023 and ’24, especially the latter year, where he hit .285 with 1.7 bWAR in 142 games.

But McCarthy fell off in 2025. He started the season going hitless in his first 24 at-bats and batting .073 when Arizona finally sent him down to Triple-A Reno on April 19. He hit better in the second half of the season after being recalled, but it wasn’t enough to not make him expendable for Arizona.

Over his five-year big-league career, McCarthy is slashing .260/.324/.381 with 46 doubles, 20 triples, 24 homers and 139 RBIs. Speed is also an important element of his game, as he has 83 stolen bases and 20 triples in his career, and his 29.9 feet/second sprint speed in 2025 was tied for fifth-fastest in the majors among players with at least 200 plate appearances.

In trading away Grosz, the Rockies gave up on one of the pieces from the Ryan McMahon trade with the Yankees last July. Grosz had a 5.87 ERA in seven starts for High-A Spokane following the trade. The other pitcher acquired in that deal, southpaw Griffin Herring, showed promise down the stretch of 2025 with a 2.40 ERA in seven starts for Spokane. Herring figures to be tested in Double-A this season.

He was interested in becoming the long-term GM. He didn’t believe the Rockies needed “rebuilding.” And he said Job No. 1 was to “Get everybody pulling on the rope in the same direction. Not only the players, but the whole organization.”

Then there’s this: “At the end of the day, I realize we need to win games.”

Schmidt was named the long-term GM on Oct. 2, 2021, but his vision of what the Rockies could become has never materialized.

Now, as the Rockies near the end of the worst season in franchise history and remain on track for one of the worst seasons in big-league history, it’s clear Schmidt’s tenure has been a failure. Colorado entered the weekend with a 40-107 record (on pace to lose 117 games), and the team had a 224-407 record on Schmidt’s watch, a .355 winning percentage that is by far the worst of any Colorado GM.

The Rockies have not publicly commented on Schmidt’s future, but it appears likely that he will be fired or reassigned at the end of the season.

When the club fired longtime manager Bud Black after the team opened the season with a 7-33 record, owner Dick Monfort issued a statement that read, “Our play this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary. We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies baseball.”

“Unacceptable” and “evaluate all areas of our operation” were key points in that statement, and they surely apply to Schmidt — not just Black and the players.

The following is an analysis of Schmidt’s tenure as GM:

Free-agent signings

Relative to many major league teams, the Rockies have been minor players in baseball’s free-agent game during Schmidt’s tenure. The exception was the spring 2022 signing of Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract, the largest in franchise history.

Bryant has played in just 11 games this season and only 170 in his first four seasons with the franchise. He has been worth a minus-1.6 rWAR over that time and hit only 17 home runs. His chronic lower back condition — the team calls it “lumbar degenerative disc disease” — could mean that his career is over. Regardless, the Rockies still owe Bryant $27 million in 2026, ’27 and ’28.

Schmidt initially envisioned Bryant as the Rockies’ “aircraft carrier,” but national baseball pundits almost universally panned the signing immediately after it was reported. While it was Monfort who pushed for Bryant to come to Colorado, there’s no indication Schmidt pushed back on the deal, either.

Schmidt’s other “major” free-agent signings:

• Outfielder Juricson Profar, 2023, one year, $7.75 million.

• Right-handed reliever Alex Colome, 2022, one year, $4.1 million.

• Right-handed starter Jose Urena, 2023, re-signed, one year, $3.5 million.

• Utility player Kyle Farmer, 2025, one year, $3.25 million.

• Second baseman Thairo Estrada, 2025, one year, $3.25 million.

Whether it was because of injuries (Estrada) or poor play (Profar), none of those deals yielded a big return.

It should be noted that Monfort’s desire to sign Bryant to a mega-deal, coupled with his decision to reduce the club’s 40-man payroll from $171 million in 2023 to $122.3 million this season, hindered Schmidt’s efforts to build a better team.

The Rockies have rarely been active in free agency, even before Schmidt’s tenure, but the GM’s inability to mine the margins of the market for productive players didn’t help.

Contract extensions

Schmidt, who served as Colorado’s head of scouting since 2007 before his promotion, certainly believes in the players he drafted or acquired. During his tenure as GM, he extended the contracts of several players, most notably left-hander Kyle Freeland and third baseman Ryan McMahon in the spring of 2022, and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar during spring training 2024.

Tovar’s seven-year, $63.5 million extension appears to be a big win for the Rockies and is easily one of Schmidt’s best moves. The other extensions are more questionable.

Three days after signing Bryant, Colorado signed McMahon to a six-year, $70 million extension, revealing Schmidt’s blueprint.

“We don’t have all we need yet, but we have quality pieces,” Schmidt said at the time. “Let����ap tie them up and move forward.”

A month later, the Rockies signed Freeland to a five-year, $64.5 million extension. The 32-year-old remains with the team as a steady, veteran presence in Colorado’s historically bad rotation. McMahon was traded to the Yankees in July for prospects. Though he was Colorado’s lone All-Star in 2024, his high strikeout rate and streaky hitting prevented him from ever becoming the player the Rockies envisioned.

The Freeland and McMahon signings ended Schmidt’s most active stretch as a GM. In the fall of 2021, after the Rockies lost star shortstop Trevor Story and right-handed starter Jon Gray to free agency, Colorado brokered long-term deals with right-hander Antonio Senzatela (five years, $55 million) and catcher Elias Diaz (three years, $14 million), and also re-signed first baseman C.J. Cron for two years ($14.5 million).

Dias and Cron were both All-Stars, but the Senzatela extension has aged poorly. A knee injury at the end of the 2022 season and Tommy John surgery in July 2023 cost him dearly, and he’s been bad since his return. This season, the 30-year-old was 4-15 with a 7.15 ERA in 24 games (23 starts), and batters were hitting .356 against him when he was demoted to the bullpen in August. Senzatela has one year remaining on his contract and is set to earn $12 million in 2026.

Reliever Daniel Bard’s contract extension also backfired on Schmidt. In late July 2022, just ahead of the trade deadline, Bard inked a two-year, $19 million contract to stay with the team through 2024. He was a solid closer at the time, and teams were interested in acquiring Bard. But he was also 37 with a history of the yips.

Bard’s control issues resurfaced in 2023 when he posted a 4.56 ERA across 49 1/3 innings while walking more than 21% of opposing hitters. Injuries wiped out the second season of the deal.

Trade or no trade

Schmidt’s first summer as GM included two major decisions. The Rockies did not trade Story or Gray, both impending free agents. Instead, the Rockies offered Story an $18.4 million qualifying offer, which he declined. As compensation, when Story signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the Red Sox, the Rockies received the 31st overall pick in the 2022 draft and selected Florida outfielder Sterlin Thompson, now the club’s 16th-ranked prospect.

The Rockies were hopeful they could retain Gray. During the final week of the 2021 season, they approached him with an offer thought to be three or four years in the range of $35 million to $40 million. He turned it down, entered free agency, and the Rockies got nothing when he walked.

Such inaction at the trade deadline has been a hallmark of the organization. While that’s also been true during Schmidt’s tenure, he has strengthened the big-league roster and farm system by making some solid moves over the last two years.

On the current roster, right fielder Tyler Freeman, closer Victor Vodnik and right-handed starter Tanner Gordon were all acquired via trades. Players on the 40-man roster acquired via trade are right-handers Bradley Blalock, Luis Peralta and Jeff Criswell.

At this summer’s traded deadline, the Rockies made multiple trades for their future, shipping McMahon to the Yankees for two prospects; trading reliever Jake Bird to the Yankees for two more prospects, and dealing veteran right-handed reliever Tyler Kinley to Atlanta in exchange for minor league right-hander Austin Smith.

It remains to be seen if any of those trades will pan out

Draft and develop

Before Schmidt became GM, he had been the point man for many drafts as the head of the scouting department since 1999.

During his tenure, several notable players were drafted, including Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis, Brad Hawpe, Garrett Atkins, Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Freeland, Gray, Story and McMahon.

But there’s been a landslide of early-round disappointments in recent years, including second baseman Brendon Rodgers (third overall, 2015), right-hander Riley Pint (fourth, 2016), infielder Ryan Vilade (48th, 2017), lefty Ryan Rolison (22nd, 2018), and first baseman Michael Toglia (23rd, 2019). The jury is still out on outfielders Zac Veen (ninth, 2020) and Benny Montgomery (eighth, 2021).

Catcher Hunter Goodman (109th, 2021) and center fielder Brenton Doyle (129th, 2019) were picked later in the draft but have emerged as pillars of Colorado’s future.

Still, over the past nine years, the Rockies have had five top-10 picks and nine others in the top 42, and those 14 picks have combined for -1.7 bWAR.

Former GM Jeff Bridich had the final say on several of those picks, but Schmidt had the final word starting with the 2022 draft. Early results are solid. His selections include right-hander Gabriel Hughes (10th, 2022) and first baseman Charlie Condon (third, 2024), both of whom could debut next season.

Already on the big-league roster are right-hander Chase Dollander (ninth, 2023), infielder Ryan Ritters (116th, 2022) and Kyle Karros (145th, 2023), and outfielder Jordan Beck (38th, 2022).

Change on the horizon?

When Schmidt replaced Bridich in early May 2021, he provided stability to a dysfunctional front office. There was, however, an expectation that the Rockies would conduct a search outside the offices at 20th and Black for a permanent GM.

That didn’t happen. After a 10-18 start under Bridich, the Rockies went 64-69 after Schmidt took over. That was good enough to convince Monfort and then-team president Greg Feasel to keep Schmidt in place.

“It was what he did over the four months, and then it just kept building, and I mean, really, he didn’t give us a choice,” Feasel said at the time. “I mean, the intent was that we were going to go outside.

“But, I mean, how many times do you need to be hit over the head with a bat? And he was the right guy for us at the right time.”

Three 100-loss seasons later, the Rockies have hit a new low in their 33-year history. Will someone from the outside have the talent, vision and guts to tackle the challenge of a rebuild? Will Monfort and his son Walker, the team’s executive vice president, cede power to an outsider?

Some candidates with ties to Colorado might be considered. Thad Levine, who was in the Rockies’ front office from 1999 to 2005 before becoming assistant GM of the Texas Rangers and GM of the Minnesota Twins, would be a good fit. So would Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, who pitched for the Rockies and served two stints in their front office, or perhaps Mariners assistant GM Andy McKay, who was Colorado’s minor league peak performance director from 2012-16 before joining Seattle as farm director.

Whatever happens, front-office changes in LoDo appear inevitable.

Rockies general managers, by record

The Rockies have only had four general managers in their 33-year history, and none of them posted a winning record during their tenure. The best of the bunch, as measured by winning percentage? The very first one, Bob Gebhard.

In splitting a four-game series against the Dodgers, the Rockies snapped a 10-game losing streak against their Los Angeles bullies.

As happy as that made the Rockies’ interim manager, that wasn’t what left Schaeffer positively buoyant. Rather, it was seeing the offense Schaeffer envisioned produce more unselfish at-bats, fewer strikeouts and aggression on the basepaths.

Home runs are great, of course, but Schaeffer doesn’t view them as a be-all, end-all. He wants an offense that not only dominates at Coors Field, but also gives the Rockies a fighting chance on the road.

“I couldn’t care less about that, to be honest,” Schaeffer said when asked about his players’ home run swings after shortstop Ezequiel Tovar went deep in Monday night’s series-opening win. “I care about guys who put the ball in play on a highly consistent basis. That plays in this yard.”

In that game, Colorado beat L.A., 4-3, on rookie first baseman Warming Bernabel’s hard-hit, walk-off groundball single to center.

Two days later, the Rockies dominated the Dodgers, ripping off 16 hits and knocking superstar Shohei Ohtani out of the game after four innings en route to an 8-3 victory. In the fourth inning, the Rockies smacked five consecutive hits off Ohtani.

It was a distillation of the approach Schaeffer wants to see every night at 20th and Blake.

“We had a good plan against (Ohtani) and we executed our plan throughout the game,” he said. “He went soft a lot, and it seems like the boys didn’t spit on the balls outside the zone. We kept him in the zone.

“They took the ball the other way, took what was given to them. That’s been a huge key for us. Taking the ball the other way and not trying to yank everything like we were doing earlier in the year.”

Schaeffer’s future in Colorado is uncertain. While the Rockies (37-91 entering the weekend) are no longer tracking toward setting the record for most losses in a season, they will undoubtedly lose 100 games for a third straight year. There is no guarantee Schaeffer will return, especially if the Rockies shake up their front office.

Colorado’s starting pitching is a mess with a 6.60 ERA and a .317 batting average against. A cleanup looks far away. But Schaeffer’s Colorado blueprint is clear, and he sees the Milwaukee Brewers as his template. The Brewers, with the 23rd-highest payroll in the game, entered the weekend with a major league-best 80-48 record.

“I like the way the Brewers play the game,” Schaeffer said.

There’s a lot to like. The Brewers are among the leaders in average (.258, second), stolen bases (138, second), and on-base percentage (.332, third). Their 20.5% strikeout rate is the fifth-lowest, and their 3.48 walks per game ranks fourth.

The Rockies have had several identities over the years, most famously the Blake Street Bombers. The 1996 Bombers remain the only team in major league history to hit 200 or more home runs (221) and steal 200 or more bases (201) in the same season. The 2018 Rockies, the last team to make the playoffs, batted .256, hit 210 homers and stole 95 bases.

Walt Weiss, who played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97 and managed the club from 2013-16, likes Schaeffer’s vision, but notes that it’s not unique in Rockies history.

“My thought, when I managed there, was that I wanted to overwhelm teams at Coors Field,” said Weiss, who’s served as the Atlanta Braves’ bench coach since 2018. “I wanted to be a multi-dimensional offense, and I wanted to push the tempo all of the time.

“I tried to make Coors Field the biggest home-field advantage in baseball. I always said that. The Rockies need to capitalize on that.”

Hall of Fame outfielder Larry Walker, a member of the Blake Street Bombers, says the key for the Rockies must be developing hitters in the farm system.

“You just can’t go out and purchase or (spend) a ton of money on players, or trade off a lot, because then you are left dry,” Walker said last September when he was in Denver to celebrate Coors Field’s 30th anniversary. “So the farm system needs to be built up a little bit to have that pool of young players that you can call up.

“I think, perhaps, they are running a little bit thin right now in that department. That����ap a process that����ap got to start. It doesn’t happen over a couple of years. It����ap going to take some time.”

Of course, now the question becomes, do the Rockies keep loading up on big, strong power hitters like first baseman Michael Toglia — a first-round pick in 2019 who was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque because of his exorbitant 38.3% strikeout rate? Or like Charlie Condon, who’s slashing .258/.370/.469 with six homers in 36 games since his promotion to Double-A Hartford?

Or will the Rockies buy into Schaeffer’s vision of drafting and developing faster, athletic, put-the-ball-in-play players?

“A lot of how you play is based on your personnel, of course,” Weiss said. “You can’t put a square peg in a round hole, so you have to have the right personnel to play the type of game that the Brewers do.”

Dan O’Dowd, Colorado’s general manager from September 1999 through the 2014 season, says the Rockies need to find the right combination of on-base guys and power hitters.

“Very simply, they have to have guys that can hit and hit with at least average power at every position on the field, with a few aircraft carriers mixed in that can absolutely mash,” said O’Dowd, an analyst for MLB Network. “We were the Brewers in 2000, and a lack of power got us.”

The 2000 Rockies finished 82-80, and their non-pitchers hit .304. But Hall of Fame first baseman Todd Helton was the only real masher on the team. Helton hit 42 homers, while right fielder Jeffery Hammond was a distant second with 20.

Earlier this season, the Rockies were a disaster, and their offense had no identity, save for its ability to pile up strikeouts.

Through their first 18 games, they hit .209, led majors with a 29.6 strikeout percentage, ranked 27th with a 7.3 walk percentage, and were tied for 29th with 12 home runs. During a three-game series at San Diego from April 11-13, they were shut out in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. Colorado managed just nine hits (12 baserunners), the fewest in any three-game series.

Last season, the Rockies struck out a team record 1,617 times, the most in franchise history and the third-most in major league history. Clint Hurdle made it a priority to cut down on the Ks when he was brought back into the fold in April.

“It can’t be an elephant in the room that we aren’t going to talk about,” Hurdle said early this season. He was named the hitting coach after the team fired Hensley Meulens three weeks into the season, and then became the bench coach when Bud Black was fired and replaced by Schaeffer.

“Bottom line, I don’t think there is enough angst in the game about striking out,” Hurdle said. “I see it in our men, as a group. If you punch out 12 times in a game, you have watched the pitcher and catcher play catch in front of your dugout for four innings. Now you’re asking yourself to beat the other team with five innings of offensive baseball.”

The Rockies have improved their approach, albeit slowly. By the All-Star break, the team was slashing .230/.291/.378 with a 26.5% strikeout rate. Still bad, but better. Moreover, players started buying into Hurdle’s preaching and Schaeffer’s preferred style of play.

“When the second half came, we had a meeting and we said, ‘Hey, let’s flush the first half,’ ” said outfielder and leadoff hitter Tyler Freeman. “We said, ‘We’re not going to give at-bats away. The record may not show it yet, but we’re getting better, we’re really getting gritty.’ ”

Since the All-Star break, Colorado slashed .273/.320/.451 with a 21.5% K rate going into a weekend series at Pittsburgh. Schaeffer said the drop in strikeouts is the result of personnel changes and a better approach at the plate.

“It’s a combination of both,” he said. “Because we have certain guys up here now. You have (rookie) Kyle Karros at third and Bernable at first, and both of their biggest strengths are putting the ball in play. And they are replacing ‘Mac’ (Ryan McMahon traded to the Yankees), who’s a great player but a high strikeout guy (31.0%), and Toglia, who’s a high strikeout guy. Naturally, those strikeout rates are going to go down.

“But, yes, our approach has gotten better. It’s a testament to the work of our hitting coaches (Jordan Pacheco and Nic Wilson). The boys love working together with those guys. When there is a good collaboration going on, the sky’s the limit.”

Freeman is Schaeffer’s philosophy personified. He entered the weekend hitting .297 with a .372 on-base percentage. True, he’d hit just two homers, but his strikeout rate was a minuscule 9.6%.

Last year with Cleveland, he moved to center field but batted .209 in 118 games in a season shortened by a left oblique injury. He was in line for the Guardians’ starting second base job before the Rockies acquired him for outfielder Nolan Jones in spring training.

“My mentality coming into this year was getting back to who I am,” he said, admitting that he’d previously fallen into the trap of swinging for the fences. “I wanted to concentrate on doing the smaller things — bunting, stealing bases, little things like that, not worrying about the long ball. Coming over here with a fresh start was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I found myself again.”

Freeman won’t have the All-Star impact that Charlie Blackmon did in 2017 when Blackmon won a batting title with a .331 average, 37 homers and 14 triples, mainly from the leadoff spot. But Schaeffer believes Freeman is the type of player the Rockies need to set the table.

“I love the way Tyler Freeman plays baseball,” Schaeffer said. “I love the way he puts the ball in play and battles, and uses the big part of Coors. There’s a lot of space out there for balls to drop in and go first to third. He plays that game well. He runs well.”

Schaeffer understands that in-the-gap triples, bloop doubles and soft singles are part of baseball in LoDo. He just wants to do it better than the opposition.

“You see it all the time here,” he said. “Our pitchers give up those hits because other teams put the ball in play. That’s what we need to do in our own ballpark — only better than the other guys. And, I think a big bonus for us is that that style plays on the road.”

When Schaeffer replaced Black on May 11, he already had his vision in mind.

“Since Day 1, since I stepped into this job, that����ap one of the things I’ve been preaching,” Schaeffer said. “For me, you just have to keep preaching it, and then see some good results on the field.

“It����ap part of our game now, and we can beat teams and score runs in different ways now, as opposed to just going station to station and trying to hit a home run. That����ap tough to do at this level.”

Turning it around

The Rockies began the season with the worst offense in the majors. Since then, the team has steadily increased its output. Following is a month-by-month look at the Rockies’ offense:

* Statistics through Aug. 21.

The 23-year-old Karros, ranked as Colorado’s No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 14 by Baseball America, was called up by the Rockies on Friday. He could be the Rockies’ third baseman of the future, replacing Ryan McMahon, who was traded to the Yankees last month ahead of the trade deadline.

Karros, making his major league debut, was in Colorado’s starting lineup at third base for Friday night’s game against Arizona at Chase Field. Karros was batting eighth.

The Rockies also called up infielder Aaron Schunk, adding him to the 40-man roster.

Before the Rockies played the Diamondbacks, the club transferred second baseman Thairo Estrada to the 60-day injured list with a right hamstring injury, ending his frustrating season. Utility infielder Orlando Arcia was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Aug. 6) with right elbow inflammation. Both players were hurt in Colorado’s loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Additionally, right-handed pitcher Angel Chivilli went on the restricted list. The Rockies said the reliever was dealing with a personal matter.

Karros is the son of former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros. The younger Karros was Colorado’s fifth-round draft pick out of UCLA in 2023. He’s been steadily climbing his way to the majors.

In 75 games between the Arizona Complex League, Double-A Hartford and Triple-A this season, he slashed .301/.398/.476 with six home runs, 23 doubles, three triples, 26 RBIs and seven stolen bases. In three minor league seasons, he’s slashed .304/.393/.459 with 21 homers, 60 doubles, six triples, 121 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases in 234 games.

He’s considered a strong fielder with a good arm. He has a career .970 fielding percentage in 211 games at third base and a 1.000 fielding percentage in eight games at first base. In 2024, he was named the High-A Northwest League MVP after slashing .311/.390/.485 in 123 games with Spokane, falling one home run shy of winning the triple crown. He also earned 2024 Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove honors as the top defensive third baseman in minor league baseball.

Schunk, 28, was outrighted off the 40-man roster in June. He has a .230/.254/.311 slashline in 127 big league plate appearances.

Estrada, 29, was supposed to team up with Gold Glove second baseman Ezequiel Tovar to give Colorado superior defense in the middle of the diamond. His contract guaranteed him $4 million this season with a mutual option for 2026.

But now his future in Colorado is in doubt. He was hit by a pitch in spring training and broke his right wrist, landing him on IL for the first two months of the season. He also missed time with a sprained left thumb. Now his hamstring strain has sidelined him for the remainder of the season. He played in only 39 games and hit .253/.285/.370.

The team drafted him in 2013 out of Mater Dei High School in Southern California when he was 18. He spent parts of 13 seasons with the organization.

On July 25, he was traded to the Yankees.

Overnight, “RyMac” went from the worst team in baseball to the most storied franchise in the history of the game. He went from a team that must go 35-19 just to avoid its third straight 100-loss season to a team with World Series aspirations.

The 30-year-old third baseman went from player-friendly, laid-back Coors Field to Yankee Stadium, where baseball is a religion and failure is not an option. In LoDo, the most rabid fans are often there to cheer for the Rockies’ opponent. If you bomb in the Bronx, the fans will let you know their displeasure and spice it with some choice words.

“It’s been a whirlwind, for sure,” McMahon said Friday from his hotel in Miami, where the Yankees opened a three-game weekend series against the Marlins.

The Yankees desperately needed McMahon’s glove at third base, and they’re counting on him to produce at the plate. So far, so good. In his first six games, he hit .400 (8 for 20) with two doubles and four RBIs. His overall numbers this season — .227/.326/.408 slash line, 16 homers, 39 RBIs — are pedestrian. But after an awful March/April in which he hit .147 and struck out 43 times at a 35% rate, McMahon started to look like a player who could help the Yankees.

On Wednesday, he hit a walk-off flyball that fell for a game-winning single in the 11th inning of New York’s 5-4 victory over the Rays at Yankee Stadium. He received a hero’s welcome at home plate from teammates, and the notoriously tough New York media gave him a thumbs up.

“It was super cool,” McMahon said. “It was a back-and-forth game. It was crazy. We were down in the eighth and came back. Down in the ninth and came back. Down in the 10th and came back, and then won it in the 11th.

“Wild game. I just happened to come up in the right situation and I got the job done.”

The early reviews are in about the trade, and so far, the critics have been kind, and McMahon likes the intensity of baseball in the Bronx.

“You definitely feel that,” he said. “You feel how much passion there is in the entire city and the organization and what they are doing there. I don’t know if ‘intimidating’ is the right word, but I didn’t know quite what to expect. I’m sure that there’s more that I have to learn on that front, but so far I’ve just been playing baseball as usual.”

McMahon’s new teammates, understanding the big stage McMahon was thrust upon, have been supportive.

“There are a lot of really good guys on this team,” he said. “I think they’re aware of the stage and what the city brings and all of that stuff, because they have been overly nice and overwhelmingly welcoming to me and the other new guys. I feel like there is a real, conscious effort from a lot of them to make us feel comfortable and help us assimilate.”

There were persistent rumors over the last two years that the rebuilding Rockies would trade McMahon, who’ll make $16 million in 2026 and again in ’27 before he becomes a free agent. McMahon knew about the rumors, of course, but the trade still caught him off guard.

“I was a little surprised that it actually happened,” he said. “It was definitely a bittersweet moment. I created a lot of really good relationships in Colorado, not just with my teammates, but with the front office, coaches, scouts, training staff, reporters. It’s a little bittersweet to leave all of that, but, obviously, I’m extremely excited to be with the Yankees and be in the playoff hunt.”

Frustrated Rockies fans hoping, or expecting, McMahon to bash his former team shouldn’t hold their breath. He’s too classy to do that. Plus, his affection for the organization is genuine. He also believes the Rockies aren’t that far from turning the corner.

But he’s a Yankee now, and that brings a special cachet.

McMahon wore No. 24 in Colorado, but he was thrilled when he discovered that uniform No. 19 was available in Yankee pinstripes. McMahon picked that number in tribute to his father, Jim, and his favorite Rockies teammate, Charlie Blackmon.

Slipping on his Yankees jersey for the first time gave McMahon pause.

“When you start thinking about it — the names of the guys who have worn the uniform in that city — it makes you take a step back and think, ‘This is pretty sweet, this is pretty surreal,’ ” he said.

Is he in a place where he can help the Yankees?

“I would definitely like to think so,” he said. “I definitely think of myself as a good ballplayer and I’m just going to go out there and do the best I can.”

Veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon, 30, was traded to the Yankees. So was 29-year-old workhorse reliever Jake Bird. Right-handed reliever Tyler Kinley, the 34-year-old sage of the bullpen, was shipped to Atlanta.

So, with slightly more than a quarter of their historically bad season remaining, what does general manager Bill Schmidt want to see from the kids?

“As I’ve said from Day 1, I want to see continued growth from these guys,” Schmidt said Friday before the Rockies hosted the Pirates at Coors Field. “We want to see them continue to get better; continued daily improvement and grind out these last two months of the season.”

The Rockies are 6-6 since the All-Star break but still need to win 14 of their final 54 games to avoid matching the 2024 White Sox’s modern record of 121 losses. Schmidt, who has faced a lot of speculation about his future with the team, said interim manager Warren Schaeffer has been doing a good job.

“Since the first of June, the last two months, we have been way more competitive,” Schmidt said. “We’ve lost some games late; we’ve won a couple late. I think ‘Schaeff’ and the crew have done a good job. We’ve seen improvement from the players on the field.”

Since June 1, Colorado was 19-31 entering Friday night, a .380 winning percentage that is an improvement over its .259 winning percentage for the entire season.

A key for the Rockies during August and September, and preparing for next season, is seeing improvement from a talented but often erratic bullpen. Collectively, Colorado relievers had a 7.46 ERA in their first 12 games since the break. Right-handers Seth Halvorsen (1-2, 4.99 ERA, 11 saves in 14 chances) and Victor Vodnik (3-3, 3.66 ERA, two saves in six chances) hold the keys to a better bullpen.

“I think they are progressing well,” Schaeffer said. “Every time out for them is a chance to gain more experience at this level and learn how to handle big situations as they go. I feel like both of them have done a really nice job.”

Several teams inquired about Halvorsen and Vodnik as Thursday’s trade deadline neared, but Schmidt said those teams couldn’t meet the Rockies’ “big ask.”

Palmquist to ‘pen. Left-hander Carson Palmquist’s days as a big-league starter are over, at least for now. The Rockies have decided to turn him into a reliever. As of Friday, he was Colorado’s only southpaw in the bullpen.

The 24-year-old was selected in the third round of the 2022 draft out of the University of Miami. He was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque before Friday’s game, his third stint on the active roster this season.

“After some discussion, we decided that his stuff probably played best in that role, as opposed to trying to get through a lineup three times,” Schmidt said. “His velocity has been down a little bit. We hope it will tick up when (he pitches) one time through the order instead of two or three times.”

The statistics illustrate Schmidt’s point. During his seven starts with the club over his first two stints in the majors, Palmquist was 0-4 with a 7.63 ERA, striking out 22 and walking 18. He failed to pitch more than five innings in any of his seven starts, the first starter in franchise history to not reach the sixth inning at least once in their first seven starts.

Asked if moving Palmquist to the bullpen was a long-term decision, Schmidt replied, “Yes.”

Darnell called up. Right-handed reliever Dugan Darnell, 28, who played two seasons of independent ball in 2019-20, was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday. When he pitches his first game, he’ll be the 11th Rockies player (sixth pitcher) to debut this season.

In 35 games (one start) this season for the Isotopes, Darnell was 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA, one save and 63 strikeouts (10.57 strikeouts per nine innings. Over five minor league seasons with the Rockies’ organization, he’s 21-8 with a 3.74 ERA, 24 saves and 332 strikeouts over 200 games. He was signed by Colorado as an undrafted free agent in February 2021.

Playing basketball for the Nuggets provides purpose, but harness racing remains his crush.

Last Sunday drove this point home when Jokic celebrated his horse Demon Dell’Est’s victory in the Dužijanac event in Serbia by hustling to the winner’s circle and spraying champagne. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he hugged the animal and the driver before throwing his hands skyward in jubilation.

It couldn’t have been much different than his reaction when the . He was composed while accepting the Finals MVP trophy, and sheepishly popped champagne before finally letting loose when he tossed Jamal Murray into a recovery pool.

Two things can be true. Jokic can be a three-time MVP and love horses more than hoops. The latter is a family affair. As early as the age of 12, Jokic wanted to be a trainer, and he recently said he owns around 45 horses.

Some have taken this as a sign he will leave the NBA early. My conclusion is the exact opposite. There is little money in the harness racing business. It is about passion, not profit. Basketball offers a financial avenue to keep his stable stocked.

Jokic isn’t going anywhere. And he sure as heck isn’t leaving to start a .

So, hold your horses, Nuggets’ Nation. Jokic loves the Standardbreds. It is his hobby. But he is not leaving his job as the best basketball player in the world anytime soon.

Nick Wrong: FSN’s Nick Wright made headlines for hating on Jokic for years before the reality of the center’s brilliance clobbered him over the head. Now, the world’s biggest Chiefs fan has taken aim at the Broncos. He predicted Denver will finish in last place in the AFC West with the Raiders making the playoffs. There is a better chance of Travis Kelce breaking up with Taylor Swift to date Ariana Grande. Wright is good at his job. But his bias on all things Chiefs has become a tired act.

Rock the boat: Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt broke character and made multiple deals at the trade deadline, shipping out third baseman Ryan McMahon and relievers Jake Bird and Tyler Kinley. Good plan. Wrong year. All had more value last July, leaving Colorado with one legit pitching prospect in return in Griffin Herring. They should have shipped out Seth Halvorsen — getting two arms like him — but that is a trade better left to the next GM.

Tick Tock Mike: Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin has gone 18 straight seasons without a losing record, the third longest streak behind Bill Belichick and Tom Landry. This year for Tomlin reminds me of Andy Reid’s last season in Philadelphia. It feels like he’s a Hall of Fame coach headed for an amicable divorce after Aaron Rodgers craters another team’s fortunes.

Bryce blow up: Bryce Harper telling commissioner Rob Manfred to “get the (blank) out of the clubhouse” if he was going to broach the topic of a salary cap, is not worthy of a suspension. Manfred said the two ultimately shook hands. What it did show is how far apart the sides are regarding the economics of the sport with the collective bargaining agreement expiring on Dec. 1, 2026. Harper is taking an admirable stance, but a word of advice: Baseball will never recover if another World Series is canceled.