Colorado

Rockies

The 28-year-old southpaw spent the 2024 season pitching in Japan and in the Dominican Winter League, compiling a 3.84 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and a 73/34 K/BB ratio across 61 innings. He’ll add an intriguing and talented arm as minor league bullpen depth for the Rockies.

With Charlie Blackmon hanging up his spikes at the end of last year, the Rockies are planning to install the Doyle atop their lineup heading into next season. The 26-year-old speedster, who is coming off a breakthrough 23-homer, 30-steal campaign for Colorado, doesn’t possess the on-base skills of a traditional leadoff hitter, but the Rockies don’t exactly have anyone else on the lineup card that fits the mold. The biggest fantasy takeaway here is that Doyle should get a boost in the runs scored department.

The ping pong balls came through for the Nationals as they secure the top selection in next year’s MLB Draft after having just 10 percent odds of landing the first overall pick. Washington hasn’t picked first overall since taking Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010) in consecutive seasons. Oklahoma prep shortstop Ethan Holliday — son of former Rockies star Matt Holliday and brother of Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday — and Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette are among the top candidates for the first-overall selection next year. The biggest movers were the Mariners, who went from the second-lowest odds at less than one percent, jumping all the way to the third pick. The Marlins, who came into the lottery tied with the Rockies for the best odds to secure the first pick, fell all the way to seventh. Here are the complete lottery results: (1) Nationals, (2) Angels, (3) Mariners, (4) Rockies, (5) Cardinals, (6) Pirates, (7) Marlins, (8) Blue Jays, (9) Reds, (10) White Sox, (11) Athletics, (12) Rangers, (13) Giants, (14) Rays, (15) Red Sox, (16) Twins, (17) Cubs, (18) Diamondbacks.

No word yet on the financial terms. Estrada joins the Rockies from the Giants, and is coming off an awful year where he hit just .217/.243/.343 over 96 games. He’s had previous success with an OPS+ above 100 over the previous three seasons. He’ll be the everyday second baseman in Colorado, and while that’s a friendly offensive ballpark, it’s hard to see him as more than a bench option in fantasy formats to begin 2025.

“I think he’s close,” Schmidt added. Whether Dollander can conquer the Coors Field challenge remains to be seen, but he’s the most intriguing pitching prospect the Rockies have had in at least a decade or so. The 23-year-old right-hander was outstanding last year, posting a sparkling 2.59 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 169/47 K/BB ratio across 118 innings (23 starts) between High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford. It sounds like he’ll have a legitimate opportunity to make Colorado’s season-opening starting rotation and could make a real impact for fantasy managers early on next year. He’ll be worth monitoring closely in spring training, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

Jacob Stallings appears to be set as the team’s starter behind the dish, but Hunter Goodman has been used in much more of a utility role than as a true backup catcher. That means that it’ll likely be a battle between Nola and Drew Romo to see who will open the season in that reserve role and it’s hard to like his chances there. Nola didn’t appear in the big leagues during the 2024 season, slashing a putrid .174/.260/.298 with five homers and 24 RBI in 191 plate appearances for the Royals at Triple-A Omaha.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reported Friday that the Rockies are also looking at Estrada as a second base option alongside Kyle Farmer. He’d presumably be more of a utilityman on a Yankees team that can do better for starters. Estrada hit .217/.247/.343 in 96 games for the Giants last season, and while he was much better the previous two years, his poor exit velocity numbers never really backed it up.

The 21-year-old hurler spent his first two professional seasons in the Rockies’ organization before he was plucked by the Orioles in the minor league portion of the Rule-5 draft prior to the 2024 season. Ochoa went on to post a 4.71 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 24/5 K/BB ratio over 21 innings for the Orioles’ Rookie League club. The Rockies remain intrigued by his potential and think that he can blossom into a real asset out of their bullpen in the coming years.

Farmer officially joins the Rockies after hitting .214 with a .646 OPS for the Twins in 2024. The 34-year-old can play all over the field, and should serve in a utility role — perhaps as the starting second baseman depending on the rest of the offseason for Colorado — but his fantasy value is significantly limited even if he’s a regular.

It’s a big cut from the $6.3 million that Farmer made as an arbitration-eligible player with the Twins last season, but we’re skeptical anyone else was offering Farmer this much after a season in which he posted an 82 OPS+. Maybe he’ll bounce back some at age 34... it could mean the difference between the Rockies winning 64 or 65 games next year.