DENVER -- Acquiring outfielder Jake McCarthy was one of the earliest and most successful moves of the front office that took over the Rockies last winter.
An excess player with the Diamondbacks, McCarthy -- who arrived Jan. 10 for Minor League pitcher Josh Grosz -- fit the Rockies’ new plan. By using speed to take advantage of Coors Field’s spacious outfield and making consistent contact, McCarthy proved the Rockies’ and manager Warren Schaeffer’s hypothesis that offensive impact could be made without swinging for the fences.
“I look at this time last year, and it was a completely different situation, different team. So I’m very grateful for this opportunity to showcase and try to help this team win,” McCarthy said as the season ended in Chicago. “We want to win more games, and I think there are things I can do to help the team at the top of the order and defensively.”
Coming off a 58-104 season, however, the Rockies face the legitimate question of whether McCarthy helps the team best in a trade.
When the Trade Deadline arrived in early August, a Rockies front office that was open for business held on to McCarthy, who finished eighth in the National League with a .291 batting average while filling the leadoff-hitter hole. The General Managers Meetings started Tuesday in Las Vegas with the Rockies facing the same problem -- a lack of starting pitching -- that makes dealing McCarthy even a question.
“It's a huge point of emphasis. There's no doubt,” Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said. “We need more starting pitching, and I think we need to look at every possible avenue that we have to acquire [it]. I don't think it'll all be solved with just one avenue … [maybe] like ‘Hey, lets just go sign a few free agents or just or trade for a few guys.’ But I think you know we'll look at all those different ways that we can acquire talent. … Certainly, starting pitching is going to be an emphasis in all those areas.”
Active teams can find themselves playing whack-a-mole, solving one problem but creating another and never forming fully. Teams also can hang on to players they like, even if it means the type of inaction that never leads to improvement. McCarthy, 29 -- who avoided salary arbitration last winter by reaching a $1.53 million deal for 2026 and is under club control through ’28 -- is a player about whom arguments can be made either way.
At the Trade Deadline, the Rockies didn’t have as much pressure to decide on McCarthy, because most contenders sought right-handed-hitting outfielders. Among those who changed addresses were Jo Adell (Guardians), Heliot Ramos (Yankees), Taylor Ward (Mariners) and onetime Colorado outfielder Randal Grichuk (White Sox).
The Rockies dealt righty-hitting center fielder Brenton Doyle to the White Sox, while holding on to McCarthy and signing fellow lefty-swinger Mickey Moniak to a two-year, $16.5 million extension through 2028.
The offseason refresh could mean new trading opportunities.
Or not. McCarthy provided leadoff production the Rockies had been missing since the prime of Charlie Blackmon, who topped the lineup when the Rockies visited the postseason in 2017 and ’18.
McCarthy’s 13 triples were second among MLB players, bettered only by the 17 of former Diamondbacks teammate Corbin Carroll. McCarthy’s 32 stolen bases were seventh in the NL and most for a Rockies player since Blackmon’s league-leading 43 in 2015. With 15 homers and 30 doubles, McCarthy became the first Rockies player since Blackmon in 2017 (35 doubles, 14 triples, 37 homers) with at least 30 doubles, 15 homers and 10 triples while also stealing at least 30 bases.
Those numbers were among the reasons the Rockies’ offense went from one of baseball’s worst during 2025 to one that finished in the top 10 in many key categories in ’26. Do the Rockies part with McCarthy or any of the others who lifted the offense to help the pitching? Or are there other ways?
“Especially if we are going to be potentially looking at trades for pitching, I think we have to be open to it, whether it's from our current big league club or from our Minor League system,” DePodesta said. “In areas where we have some depth, that could make some sense. But I think we have to be open to it. Now, some of the position players we have will be much harder for us to trade because we feel like that's a strength. So we want to be careful about not taking too much away from that, but yeah, I think we have to be open-minded.”
If anything is to be learned from the Brewers winning the World Series and the Rays making it there -- and both teams are on an extended run of contention not often achieved by lower-spending clubs -- McCarthy’s role in Rockies culture must be evaluated even if it isn’t measured by traditional or advanced metrics.
McCarthy’s words at the end of the year suggested a hunger to address a simple but broad concept: winning baseball.
“There are things I can do to help the team at the top of the order, defensively and on the basepaths -- a lot of other parts of my game that need improvement,” McCarthy said. “I’m going to put the work in, plus see where this team is heading.
”We’re a better team than what we showed toward the end of the year. I think we now understand the grind of a 162-game season. We want to get to where we want to be, finishing a season playing meaningful games in September.”