Luke Wortman | December 11, 2024

Rockies fans are undoubtedly accustomed to little happening during the offseason. Big moves are rarely made, and even when they are, they’re typically regrettable. Ian Desmond, Daniel Murphy, and Kris Bryant immediately come to mind.

After today, Rockies fans will need to keep looking for that elusive signing. Today, the squad signed six-year veteran second baseman Thairo Estrada to a one-year, $3.25 million contract with a mutual option for 2026 that makes the total guarantees $4 million with a chance to be a 2 year, $6.5 million contract if the mutual option is exercised.

Estrada is arbitration eligible for one year so even if either side turns down the mutual option, the Rockies will have the choice of keeping Estrada at a price tag likely a bit above the $3.25 million Estrada would receive from the mutual option.

Just what does Thairo Estrada brings to the table, and can he be a quality replacement for Brendan Rodgers?

 A Venezuela native, the 28-year-old Estrada grew up in the Yankees system, making his big league debut in 2019. He got limited playing time over the next two seasons and was traded to San Francisco Giants ahead of 2021.

Estrada would experience a breakout in San Francisco, having a stellar 7.5 combined fWAR from 2021-2023. He would have his best season so far in 2023, hitting .271 with 14 home runs, 23 stolen bases, and a 3.5 fWAR. Unfortunately, 2024 did not go so well as he dealt with a lingering wrist injury that caused multiple IL stints. Estrada only played in 96 games and hit .217. 

There are definitely some downsides to this deal. For starters, Estrada won’t stick in the starting lineup if his play doesn’t return pre-2024 form. He doesn’t walk much so his margin for error is limited. As covered earlier this offseason, there are no other proven in-house commodities at second base to fill in Rodgers’ shoes, besides fellow new signing Kyle Farmer. 

Looking past the doom and gloom, this could be a pretty underrated move for the Rockies. Estrada won’t bring the division title to Denver by himself, but if he plays like he did in 2021-2023, he will be a major improvement to the team.

As stated above, Estrada was an above average offensive performer and one of the best defensive infielders in the league for most of his tenure with the Giants.

He maximizes his power, steals bases, and plays top tier defense at second base. Not to mention, Estrada has a career .348/.406/.565 slash line at Coors. With a full season at Coors Field, the high-contact Estrada could make a DJ LeMahieu type of impact for Colorado.

With Farmer already signed, the move for Estrada signals that Farmer will serve in a utility role, hopefully serving as a substantial upgrade over Alan Trejo and Aaron Schunk who filled the role in 2024. Further, bringing Estrada in suggests the Rockies want to take a bit more time cultivating Adael Amador into the second baseman of the future, as the 21-year-old showed huge areas for improvement in 2024.

With his skillset, Estrada gives the Rockies a more suitable leadoff option with his contact-oriented approach and basestealing aptitude.

Either way, Estrada helps to move the needle towards a more relevant club. While the Rockies are not pushing their chips in right now, winning more games now is essential for building a stronger culture going forward, especially with such a young roster. With the Rockies ineligible for a top-10 pick in 2026, they have all the more incentive to try and make up ground as they eye a late-2020s playoff window.

Written by Luke Wortman.