{"id":546419,"date":"2026-03-26T12:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/546419\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T12:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:53:11","slug":"colorado-rockies-news-how-to-measure-success-for-the-2026-rockies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/546419\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Rockies News: How to measure success for the 2026 Rockies?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In their team by team season preview series each year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fangraphs.com\/blog-roll?category=Effectively+Wild\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Effectively Wild<\/a> asks \u201cwhat would constitute a success for  this year?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">While winning the World Series would be seen as a success for any team, most are not in a position where that would be plausible. For those teams, some other benchmark, if met, would still have to be considered an overall good outcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.fangraphs.com\/effectively-wild-episode-2453-season-preview-series-dodgers-and-rockies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 iteration of their Rockies preview<\/a>, guest Patrick Lyons answered the question with: Not losing 100 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">On the surface I think this is a sensible answer. Given the state of the organization last season, however, I don\u2019t think major league wins are the most important factor in the long-term health of the club. That, I believe, depends mainly on the following:<\/p>\n<p>A better development pipeline: You need look no further than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/2025\/1\/27\/24352791\/colorado-rockies-news-monday-rockpile-the-rockies-need-to-get-more-from-their-first-round-picks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the lack of performance from the past decade of first round draft selections the Rockies have made<\/a> to conclude that their development practices haven\u2019t been working.Improved technological infrastructure: The Rockies have been so willingly behind the times that they were <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/mlb\/article\/whats-ahead-for-the-rockies-can-an-mlb-team-stuck-in-the-past-finally-join-the-modern-game-011248598.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly restricting players even throwing bullpens in front of trackman units<\/a>. This is an area in which they have clear needs.An influx of new talent: While the Rockies likely have more talent than is currently obvious (due to poor development practices), it would be hard to argue that they have enough in house to be able to field a contending team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Most of that is hard to measure from an outside perspective. We\u2019ll have a chance to do our own assessment of the new talent they bring in over the course of the season, but we are likely never going to know how the Rockies use of tech or development plans compare to other organizations in more than vague terms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">If we can\u2019t directly know to what degree these goals have been achieved, we need to look to a downstream indicator of if\/how those things have changed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Coming into the 2026 season, here\u2019s where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/colorado-rockies-prospects-minor-leagues\/81161\/the-state-of-the-colorado-rockies-farm-system-march-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Rockies farm<\/a> ranks among public prospect evaluators:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Given their poor major league performance for the past half decade, the Rockies have had every opportunity to rank highly on these lists. Regardless of how much you value the analysis of any one of those evaluators, the consensus among them being that the Rockies are \u2014 at best \u2014 a bottom-third team when it comes to prospect talent is damning.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1eezmj01\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.purplerow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/128\/2026\/03\/Fangraphs_2025_Midseason_FarmSystemRanks.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"806\" data-pswp-width=\"985\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"Fangraphs 2025 midseason farm system rankings. These are based on comparative dollar value estimations of Future Value (FV) grades assigned to each prospect in the system.\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"w91vxg0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Fangraphs_2025_Midseason_FarmSystemRanks.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fangraphs 2025 midseason farm system rankings. These are based on comparative dollar value estimations of Future Value (FV) grades assigned to each prospect in the system. Fangraphs.com<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">These poor rankings indicate that the Rockies either haven\u2019t selected talented players or developed them particularly well, both of which have been hampered by their lack of technological infrastructure. You see where I\u2019m going with this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">If the factors for a successful 2026 season posited in the into are improved that should be seen in their farm system being ranked more favorably moving forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The good news is, the 2026 Rockies will continue to have plenty of opportunities to test this:<\/p>\n<p>The Draft: The Rockies have <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fdraft%2F2026%2Forder\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">five picks in the top 104 selections<\/a> of the 2026 draft, which will be backed up by what is sure to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/news\/_\/id\/3189\/2026-mlb-draft-estimated-signing-bonus-pools\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a top-ten bonus pool<\/a>.Trade Candidates: The new front office held off on selling low on most of the major league players they inherited this offseason. They will almost certainly enter the trade deadline as clear sellers with close to an entire roster of potentially tradable players.Existing Raw Tools: The farm system is already littered with players with big raw tools hampered by question marks as to whether they will actually be able to access them (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/colorado-rockies-prospects-minor-leagues\/80869\/colorado-rockies-prospects-no-2-ethan-holliday\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ethan Holliday<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/colorado-rockies-prospects-minor-leagues\/80866\/colorado-rockies-prospects-no-3-brody-brecht\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brody Brecht<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/colorado-rockies-prospects-minor-leagues\/80307\/colorado-rockies-prospects-no-6-robert-calaz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robert Calaz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/colorado-rockies-prospects-minor-leagues\/79536\/colorado-rockies-prospects-no-16-jackson-cox\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jackson Cox<\/a>, etc.).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This should be a perfect confluence of needs and means. The big question is how quickly they can execute on improvements to the organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">All that said, my pitch for what would constitute a successful season for the 2026 Colorado Rockies is this:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">A consensus top 15 farm system in the league next offseason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That may seem steep, but given the number of favorable opportunities available, it is plausible. If the Rockies can do that, 2026 will be a resounding success in my book regardless of how many losses the major league team ends up with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">What about you? Is there some other metric or benchmark that you\u2019ll be using to measure the season? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=1025X1734621&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Frockies%2Fnews%2Frockies-marlins-2026-opening-day-faq\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What to know about Rockies-Marlins Opening Day (Fri., 7:10 p.m. ET) | MLB.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">While most of the league will have played their first game of the season today, the Rockies will need to wait until tomorrow. Thomas Harding and Christina De Nicola offer up a very full breakdown of everything you\u2019ll want to know heading into Rockies Opening day game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denvergazette.com\/2026\/03\/19\/rockies-jake-mccarthy-grows-comfortable-after-trade-from-diamondbacks-as-he-pranks-his-former-team\/#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rockies\u2019 Jake McCarthy grows comfortable after trade from Diamondbacks \u2014 as he pranks his former team | The Denver Gazette ($)<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Kevin Henry talks to Jake McCarthy about how he\u2019s transitioned after being traded to the Rockies this offseason. It\u2019s a wide ranging piece going over the parallels he sees between his career and the recent Rockies teams. The real draw, however, is an anecdote McCarthy shares about how early this spring he would drive through the Diamondbacks side of camp at 6:30 in the morning and \u201clay on the horn\u201d to get a response out of his old teammates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Please keep in mind our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purplerow.com\/pages\/purple-row-rules-and-regulations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Purple Row Community Guidelines<\/a> when you\u2019re commenting. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their team by team season preview series each year Effectively Wild asks \u201cwhat would constitute a success&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[243675,363,36536,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-546419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-colorado-rockies-news","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-rockpile","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}