Was this the biggest roster move surprise from the Colorado Rockies?

On Friday, the Colorado Rockies decided which of their prospects the franchise would move onto the 40-man roster and protect from losing in the Rule 5 Draft. However, there was one name not on the list that seemed surprising.

The Colorado Rockies made an interesting roster choice with a catcher on Friday

Included in the roster moves made among Major League Baseball teams ahead of the Friday deadline were the Rockies adding left-handed pitcher Ryan Rolison, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, and right-handed pitcher Noah Davis to the 40-man roster. That brought Colorado’s 40-man roster total to 39, leaving one spot open heading into Thanksgiving week.

However, that one spot wasn’t used to protect any of the seven other Rockies prospects who will now be open to a selection by other MLB teams in the Rule 5 Draft. Among those seven is catcher Willie MacIver, who was a seemingly surprising omission.

This past July, MacIver was part of the SiriusXM Futures Game played at Coors Field as part of the All-Star Game festivities. During his time in Denver, he talked to us about playing in the game and what the 2021 season had been like for him to that point, including becoming the first member of the Hartford Yard Goats to ever hit three home runs in one game.

A ninth-round pick of the Rockies in 2018, MacIver quickly rose up the organizational ladder this past season, starting the year in High-A Spokane and finishing it in Triple-A Albuquerque. The 25-year-old catcher slashed .286/.395/.542 with a .937 OPS in 168 at-bats in Spokane, but scuffled in his time in Hartford and Albuquerque (outside of the three-homer game), hitting just .163 with a combined two home runs and seven RBI when his July 3 power surge is taken out of the statistics.

While MacIver struggled in the upper levels of the minors last season, he is still ranked as Colorado’s 25th-best prospect (third-best catching prospect behind Drew Romo and Hunter Goodman). He’s ahead of both Romo and Goodman in terms of expected MLB debuts as well, with MLBPipeline.com projecting he could make his debut with the Rockies next season.

Certainly there is never anything guaranteed with prospects. However, in a system where catching depth has long been an issue, the Rockies leaving MacIver off the 40-man roster is perhaps the biggest roster gamble they made on Friday.