Colorado

Rockies

He’ll get $12.8 million, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Castro seemed in line for a one-year pact after cratering with the Cubs following a deadline deal, but the Rockies needed to commit a little extra, even for a position player who will be lucky to take advantage of Coors Field. The switch-hitting Castro figures to be an everyday player for Colorado, though he could continue to be deployed all over the place. He’s hit .244/.328/.386 with 32 homers and 57 steals in 1,498 plate appearances over the last three seasons. Unfortunately, though, 33 of those steals came in 2023, and he’s gone just 24-for-37 since. Still, with Coors backing him and maybe more steal attempts on a bad team, he could be a factor in mixed leagues.

The Rockies needed to make room for Michael Lorenzen on the 40-man roster, so Blalock was the choice to be let go. The 25-year-old posted a 9.36 ERA in 58 2/3 innings for the Rockies last season.

The deal was reported on January 7th and is now official. The 34-year-old had a 4.64 ERA in 141 2/3 innings last season and no longer has the groundball profile we’d like to see in a pitcher going to Colorado. This seems like a situation to avoid in fantasy leagues.

Miller’s only major league experience came with the Angels in 2024, when he posted a 4.15 ERA in 13 innings out of the pen. He spent last season with the Tigers’ Triple-A club, amassing a 4.32 ERA in 50 innings. Given that the Rockies tend to run through a bunch of pitchers, there’s a good chance he’ll see some additional major league time this year.

It’s a phenomenal landing spot for the speedy McCarthy, who stands to benefit exponentially from Coors Field’s high-octane offensive environment — particularly from a BABIP standpoint — as he steps into a corner outfield role for Colorado next season. The 28-year-old former first-round pick was out of minor-league options this spring and likely to be lost in the shuffle with Arizona by an overflow of left-field depth, which includes some combination of Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander, Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa, along with top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt. He scuffled in the majors last season, but he’s only one year removed from a 25-steal campaign where he slashed .285/.349/.400 with eight homers in 142 games. He’s at least an interesting late-round flyer as a low-risk rebound candidate for fantasy purposes heading into drafts this spring.

Grosz heads to Arizona just a few months after arriving in Colorado from the Yankees as part of the Ryan McMahon deal at the trade deadline. The 23-year-old righty was an 11th-round pick back in 2023 and spent all of last season at the High-A level where he fanned 135 batters over 125 1/3 innings of work. He’s an interesting pitching prospect for the Diamondbacks’ front office to sink their teeth into considering McCarthy was out of options and likely to be on the move at the end of spring training.

Herget, a 32-year-old journeyman, had a 2.48 ERA in 83 1/3 innings out of the pen last season, which probably made him the Rockies’ second-best player behind Hunter Goodman. He spoke last month about potentially joining the rotation in 2026, but it’s unclear if there’s much chance of that happening. He’s slated to have one more year of arbitration in 2027.

Freeman had a solid .281/.354/.361 line over 110 games in his first season in Colorado, but his outfield defense was enough of a problem to turn him into more of a DH as the season went along. We’re not hearing that it’s the plan, but it’d make sense for the Rockies to give him a look back at second base this season. He’s probably the team’s best option in the leadoff spot, and he could offer some mixed-league value if he’s an everyday guy, though that’s in considerable doubt at the moment.

Bernardino qualified as a Super Two player after posting a 3.14 ERA in 51 2/3 innings for the Red Sox last season, so he’ll earn about $150,000 more than he would have made with three fewer weeks of service time. He’s likely to contend for a setup role after being picked up by the Rockies in a November trade.

Doyle is a Super Two player, so he still has four seasons left before free agency. He’s come up in trade rumors this winter, but the Rockies need to hold on to him as their defensive anchor in center and hope that he bounces back to 2024 levels offensively. If that happens, he’ll have considerably more trade value next winter.