3 Rockies who will make the Opening Day roster but won't last the season

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The way the Rockies are approaching the 2024 season is vastly different than the 2023 season. The 2023 roster was littered with veterans hoping to bounce back and resurrect their careers. They had guys lke C.J. Cron, Jurickson Profar, Yanathan Daza, Randal Grichuk and Mike Moustakas. It was a group that was pretty uninspiring to say the least. There wasn't a lot of young talent that we expected to see. A lot of that changed with the emergence of Nolan Jones and seeing him take over the National League on his way to a breakout year and one of the best Rookie seasons in Rockies history. We also saw the emergence of a gold glove winning centerfielder, Brenton Doyle, who put up highlight after highlight becoming the best defensive centerfielder in the NL.

2024 will be a lot different for a Rockies team that will rely heavily on the youth movement. The Rockies avoided the dreaded prospect block type of move and have created a path for some of their youngsters to get a lot of playing time. Guys like Hunter Goodman, Sean Bouchard, Brenton Doyle should get a ton of playing time to improve their skill set and prove that they belong at the major league level.

With all of that young talent coming up, however, the Rockies still have to have some veterans to round out the roster. The Rockies showed that summer at the trade deadline, that they are willing to move off of their veterans to make room for the emerging youth and I expect more of that to happen this year. Let's take a look at a few players that will be on the opening day roster, but will most likely end up on another team come summertime.

A Starting Pitcher (Quantrill or Hudson)

The Rockies have really struggled to acquire and retain talent, especially starting pitchers. They have let a lot of talent go without anything in return (Jon Gray and Trevor Story). Why would they trade one of their starting pitchers at the deadline then? It's simple, every year at the trade deadline, the hottest commodity is starting pitching. Every team wants to add pitching at the deadline and there is no better time to capitalize on a pitching desperate team than at the deadline. Teams will make aggressive moves in hopes of securing that final wild card spot. With the playoff format, allowing the most teams in the playoffs we have ever seen, there is surely going to be a number of teams battling to add pitching.

The Rockies also have a few arms that should be ready by the middle or end of the year. As things currently stand you have Freeland, Gomber, Hudson, Quantrill, Feltner, Lambert, and even Noah Davis, who will all get starts throughout the year. The Rockies expect German Marquez to return later in the year, along with the expected debuts of Carson Palmquist and Joe Rock. The Rockies could look to capitalize on the value of the veteran pitchers, while clearing a spot for a youngster to join the big-league club, similar to what they did last offseason.

Elias Diaz

Remember talking about how at the trade deadline the most valuable commodity is starting pitching, well a solid catcher, at an affordable financial cost, is a pretty valuable asset as well. Austin Hedges was the only catcher that was dealt at the deadline last year and he is far inferior offensively that Diaz. Hedges fetched some international bonus pool money, a similar path the Rockies could go with their recent success on the international market.

Capitalizing on the catcher market could be a good move for the Rockies as Diaz is on a one-year deal and they will most likely let him go in free agency to make room for their top catching prospect, Drew Romo. Romo has done a great job defensively throughout his time in the minor leagues, but his success as just a 21-year-old switch-hitting catcher has been impressive. I would expect Romo to start in Double-A or possibly Triple-A, but come summertime, the Rockies should look to maximize their value out of Diaz and open the door for Romo.

Brendan Rodgers

For many it seems like Rodgers has been around for awhile and has been a little disappointing, but a lot of that might be because he has played just 317 games across five different seasons. Now, the first season he was just 22, then the COVID year happened. After those two years, he played 239 games over the next two years and looked to be taking some steps in the right direction, but an injury plagued 2023 in which he played just 46 games, left a lot of people frustrated.

Rodgers has a ton of talent and will hope to put it together in 2024. Rodgers is just 27 years old, but only has two years left of club control and the club could look to move him this year. Rodgers having success this year could help the Rockies win a few more games, but he will probably be more valuable in having success and the Rockies taking advantage of it by flipping him to a contender come summer time. The Rockies will most likely not be in playoff contention during Rodgers prime years and having to extend him, when you have Ezequiel Tovar and Adael Amador (not to mention Sterlin Thompson) as the core of your future infield, just doesn't make a lot of sense. If Rodgers can get off to a hot start and have a solid first half, he could be one of the more valuable trade chips come July.

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