Noah Spirek | January 16, 2026 | @NoahSpirek

With less than a month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training, the Rockies and their rebuilt front office, headed by Paul Depodesta, are making the necessary moves to supply manager Warren Schaeffer with the pieces to field a much-improved team in 2026.

One of the newest faces in the Rockies war room, President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta, spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon following a busy week of transactions.

Colorado made three notable moves, acquiring Jake McCarthy in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as signing free agents Michael Lorenzen and Willi Castro.

Some Rockies on Rockies crime right here.

This is what McCarthy brings to the club.
pic.twitter.com/dsShvWRb8m

— Blake Street Banter ⚾🌮 (@blakestbanter) January 10, 2026

On Saturday, the Rockies added McCarthy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Josh Grosz, a pitching prospect Colorado had acquired from New York in the deal that sent Ryan McMahon to the Yankees.

A former first-round pick in 2018, McCarthy, 28, is a speedster whose sprint speed of 29.9 feet per second ranked in the 99^th percentile of all MLB players in 2025, according to Baseball Savant. McCarthy tallied 83 stolen bases in his five seasons with Arizona.  

DePodesta said he wants to focus on defense and baserunning to succeed at Coors Field, and he sees McCarthy as a crucial piece to what the Rockies want to build.

“There’s so much acreage out there that you need to cover, but it also creates a real opportunity for people who are opportunistic baserunners, [and] those are two things that Jake excels at,” DePodesta said. “I think he really fits the identity of what it is we’re trying to create on our team, and valuing some of those very particular skills that we think will give us more of a home field advantage.”

The transaction came as a surprise to many, as it added to an already crowded outfield room on the roster. However, DePodesta is comfortable with the collection.

“I think they could fit together pretty nicely. We like the mix of guys we have right now. If you look at the four who took the majority of the time last year with Jordan [Beck], Brenton [Doyle], Mickey [Moniak], and Tyler [Freeman], and then you add Jake into that mix, we now have two left-handed hitters and three right-handed hitters… I think it’s a nice mix for ‘Schaeff,’ and hopefully it gives us an opportunity to put together a lineup on any given day that gives us a good chance.”

On Thursday, the Rockies finalized a one-year deal with 34-year-old starter Michael Lorenzen. The former first-round selection by Cincinnati in 2013 reached 10 years of Major League service time in 2025, and he’ll look to help lead the way on the mound this season.

“We didn’t have to convince him of anything; he ran toward this challenge,” DePodesta said of pitching at altitude. “Michael actively wanted to pitch here. He’s done a lot of different things in his career. He was an outfielder, he’s been a reliever, he’s been a starting pitcher. I don’t think he’s afraid of anything.”

New #Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen and pitching coach Alon Leichman have bonded over new-age training — and their healthy strategy debates.https://t.co/kFLXYlI9Fp

— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) January 16, 2026

Lorenzen carries a career 54-55 record with a 4.08 ERA and is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he went 7-11 across 27 games (26 starts) with a 4.64 ERA.

“Part of the appeal for him is that he’s a very good strike-thrower and pitches with an aggressive mentality,” DePodesta said of the 2023 All-Star. “He’s going to go after the hitter… and he has a deep arsenal of pitches. He has about six pitches that he throws with some regularity, and we think that’s attractive here at Coors.”

DePodesta noted that the Rockies are far from done.

“We’re always looking for arms, especially ones who can start. That’s a quest we’ll always be on, and if there are additions we can make, I think we’ll be aggressive in doing so.

“There are other things we want to do with the club, too. I think there are some position player spots that we’d love to fill. We’ve been having conversations about those as well.”

Fittingly, minutes after DePodesta said this, news broke that the Rockies had signed super-utilityman Willi Castro to a two-year deal, per Jorge Castillo.

The 28-year-old switch-hitter will enter his eighth Major League season on his fourth team, after spending his first four years with Detroit and splitting time in 2025 between Minnesota and the Chicago Cubs.

After debuting in August 2019, Castro burst onto the scene in 2020, finishing fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting while slashing .349/.381/.550. After a few disappointing seasons, Castro rebounded in 2024, where he was an All-Star in his second season with the Twins. In 2025, the veteran was traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he made little impact and ultimately hit free agency.

It remains to be seen where the Rockies elect to play Castro, but the move adds a veteran cog to an infield with three rookies, including 1B Blaine Crim, 2B Ryan Ritter, and 3B Kyle Karros.

“Every move compounds,” DePodesta said of Colorado’s signings. “If we can just continue to get incrementally better, in the long run, it’ll make a significant impact…

“Our expectation is that we’re going to be much more competitive this year than we’ve been in the recent past, and that’s our mindset going into spring training.”

Story by Noah Spirek.