Rox Pile
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The best players to play a year or less for the Colorado Rockies

By Noah Yingling

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 19: Roy Oswalt #44 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on September 19, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 7-6. (Photo by Rob Leiter/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 19: Roy Oswalt #44 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on September 19, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 7-6. (Photo by Rob Leiter/Getty Images) /
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Jamie Moyer, Colorado Rockies
MIAMI, FL – MAY 21: Pitcher Jamie Moyer #50 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during an MLB game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 21, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies are, perhaps, one of the best teams to compile a roster of players that played one year (or less) with the team because they are one of the newest teams in the sport.

For this exercise, we considered anyone that played on the Rockies MLB team for one season or less. They could be players that were supposed to play more than one season with the team but due to injury or other reasons, only played one season on the MLB team. So that means that Craig Counsell, who had two plate appearances with the Rockies at the MLB level in a combined two seasons is not eligible for this list.

For the players that never even played with the Rockies at the MLB level, you may wonder how a player could be intertwined with the team if they never played for them. For this, there are three possibilities:

  1. They were with the Rockies in Spring Training and then they never made it to the majors with the team or were released before the season started.
  2. They played in the minors for the Rockies but saw success with another MLB team.
  3. They were drafted by the Rockies in the draft but did not sign with the team. They later were drafted by another MLB team and became a successful MLB player.

The Colorado Rockies had some great players play with them for a short period of time

Overall, we considered nearly 60 players but to narrow it down to a 26-man roster, we considered their overall MLB career by length, WAR, and, least among them, their career with the Rockies.

We also aren’t considering any player currently on the Rockies roster so C.J. Cron is not eligible. If he was, he would be the team’s first baseman but we had to be more creative for a first baseman.

The 26-man roster is compiled of 14 position players and 12 pitchers as well as a DH. Why? The DH will be in all of baseball in 2021 and, as you will see, there is a surplus of good MLB players in one position so the DH was a way for us to get another player in the starting lineup. Also, there are more successful position players for the Rockies than pitchers.

Lastly, this team would have to be managed by one-year manager Jim Leyland just to fit in with the occasion.

So here’s the starting lineup and 26-man roster for the Colorado Rockies … who played one season or less with the team.

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