Colorado Rockies: Selecting the All-Time 25-Man Roster

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Sep 5, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) walks back to the dugout second inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

The outfield

We’re selecting six players to take up the outfield slots of our all-time 25-man roster.

Charlie Blackmon

Coming off his first-ever Silver Slugger, Blackmon had his best-ever season in 2016. His 29 homers and 82 RBI were both career-highs and established him as one of the best leadoff hitters in MLB today.

He also eclipsed the century mark for career stolen bases last season and has double-digit steals in the last three seasons. That includes a career-high 43 in 2015.

Ellis Burks

In five years with the Rockies, Burks performed spectacularly on the offensive side of the ball. Burks finished his Colorado career with 115 home runs, 337 RBI to go with a .306 average and .378 on-base percentage. Based on those stats, Burks is the most powerful center fielder in Rockies history (Blackmon has 74 homers in purple pinstripes).

The best year of his career came in 1996 when he hit for a .344 average. Burks would make the second of two career All-Star games and finish third in the MVP vote. That season, he led the league in runs (142), slugging percentage (.639), and total bases (392).

Michael Cuddyer

At the age of 34, Cuddyer had the best hitting season of his career while with Colorado in 2013. During that campaign, Cuddyer hit 16 first-half home runs, earning him a spot on the National League Home Run Derby squad. Cuddy’s 15 total bombs in the derby were good enough to earn him a third-place finish. That was the best finish in a Derby by a Rockie since Larry Walker‘s 1997 second place finish in Cleveland.

Cuddyer went on to finish 2013 with a .331 average, which earned him the National League Batting Title, a 20th place finish in the MVP vote, and also the only Silver Slugger award of his career. He would hit in 27 consecutive games that season, which was at the time a franchise record.

Carlos Gonzalez

In eight seasons in Colorado, CarGo has 197 homers and 628 RBI. He hit the 40-homer mark in 2015 and has triple-digit RBI in two separate campaigns, including last season’s 100 RBI.

Three All-Star Game appearances and three Gold Glove awards not only speak to CarGo’s prowess at the plate but also in the field. His arm is one of the most respected in Major League Baseball.

Matt Holliday

Spending only five seasons in Denver, Holliday pulled in a lot of hardware in a short time. Holliday represented the Rockies on three separate occasions at the All-Star Game while winning three Silver Sluggers and finishing second in one of the tightest MVP races since the early 1990s. He will forever be known for “the slide” in Game 163 that pushed the Rockies into the 2007 postseason.

Larry Walker

Walker’s 1997 season is the greatest individual season by a Rockie, and one of the greatest all-around performances of the last half century. Walker hit for a .366 average to accompany a National League-leading 49 home runs, 130 RBI, 33 stolen bases and 409 total bases. Prior to 1997, the last time an NL player eclipse 400 total bases happened in 1948. To this day, Walker is the only player in Major League history to steal 25 or more bases and have a slugging percentage over .700. Walker’s 1997 season would produce the only MVP award in Rockies history.

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