Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, January 20th, 2025
The Colorado Rockies baseball academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic is considered one of the best in baseball. First opened by Rockies vice president of international scouting and development Rolando Fernandez—now entering his 33rd year with the organization—in 2013 for a sum of $6 million, the academy focuses on both the baseball and cultural development of the young men the team signs out of Latin America.
“We teach them how to play baseball, but we’re also very involved in teaching these young men to grow, as leaders and as good citizens,” Fernandez told the Denver Post back in 2018. “It’s a very long road from the Dominican or Venezuela to the majors.”
Throughout the team’s history, the Rockies’ Latin American program has produced memorable talent like pitchers Ubaldo Jiménez, Jhoulys Chacín, Juan Nicasio, and Franklin Morales. Their 2010 and 2011 international free agent classes were particularly fruitful, bringing outfielder Raimel Tapia and right-handed pitchers Carlos Estévez and Antonio Senzatela to eventual big league careers.
Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
When you’re a self-proclaimed “draft and develop” team like the Rockies, it’s important to supplement your draft with players from your international free agent classes.
Those same Rockies, however, have largely struggled to draft and develop players over the last ten years and have been ranked poorly as evaluators of talent. Of the 295 individual players drafted by the Rockies from 2015-2024, only 30 have made their major league debuts. Those 30 players have produced just 9.8 wins above replacement per the baseball metrics website FanGraphs.
Unfortunately, the Rockies’ international signings have not fared much better.
The Rockies’ 2010-2012 classes as previously mentioned were decently successful, with eight players reaching the MLB level. Five of those players made their MLB debuts for Colorado and combined for a total of 11.8 fWAR in a Rockies uniform. Antonio Senzatela and Carlos Estévez were the two standouts of the group with 8.9 and 2.1 fWAR respectively.
However, not a single player of an approximate 26 total international signings in the Rockies’ 2013 and 2014 classes made it to MLB with any organization, though five players from 2013 did make it to Triple-A.
The international classes from 2015-2024—the same period as the Rockies’ current drafting woes—have also largely been unable to make an impact.
From 2015-2024 the Rockies signed approximately 245 international free agents from a variety of Latin American nations. 130 of those players—roughly 53%—hailed from the Dominican Republic where the Rockies’ have their academy. The second largest number of players came from Venezuela at 90—roughly 37%—with a handful of players from Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, and Brazil joining the mix.
International free agents are always somewhat of a shotgun approach. The majority of players signed don’t make it past rookie level ball in the Dominican Summer League or Arizona Complex League. For the Rockies, a whopping 71.4% of international free agents (175 total) didn’t make it to A-level ball in this time period. Only 25 players—10.2%—made it to Double-A or higher.
Overall, the Rockies have had just four international free agents make their major league debut during the time period discussed. Of those four players, only one has accumulated both significant playing time and positive fWAR in their big league career.
Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar signed for $800,000 as part of the 2017 international free agent class. After making his debut at the end of the 2022 season he has since accumulated 5.2 fWAR (and 5.9 WAR per Baseball Reference). He’s been one of the team’s best sluggers, just won his first Gold Glove, and even received some down-ballot MVP votes. However, he still has growing to do.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The other three players are right-handed pitcher Antonio Santos (2015), right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli (2018), and middle infielder Adael Amador (2019).
Santos hasn’t had a major league appearance since 2021. In 2024 he spent time in Mexico and with the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A affiliate. Meanwhile, Chivilli and Amador both made their MLB debuts in 2024.
Fortunately, both Chivilli and Amador will have the opportunity to keep contributing. Chivilli likely has a spot secure on the Opening Day 26-man roster as a key part of the Rockies’ young bullpen after a solid debut season in which he posted a 4.55 ERA over 30 big league relief appearances and earned his first MLB save. Amador meanwhile will look to earn the starting second baseman role at some point this upcoming season with the departure of Brendan Rodgers.
Just as the Rockies need their draft classes to be more productive, the Rockies desperately need their international scouting to bear fruit when it comes to big league talent. Something the Rockies’ brass is confident in.
“(With the international bonus pools) everybody was sort of equal and the smaller teams had more of a shot. It’s been a fairer system,” said owner Dick Monfort. “We have done a good job and have more coming.”
Hopefully Monfort is right. The Rockies just signed their 2025 international class and their last three classes have all produced an organizational top 30 prospect such as middle infielder Dyan Jorge (2022), outfielder Robert Calaz (2023), and middle infielder Ashly Andujar (2024).
If the Rockies can harvest more success from their international scouting efforts, it may help the team find their way to competitive baseball sooner rather than later.
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This Rockies prospect’s fire matches his tools | MLB.com
This excerpt from Thomas Harding’s newsletter showcases top Rockies prospect Cole Carrigg. The 2023 pick out of San Diego State hit .280/.358/.475 with 16 home runs and 51 stolen bases in his first full season of professional baseball and plays with an intensity that turns heads.
“I basically play with my hair on fire. I don’t really think too much out there.”
2025 Prospects: Colorado Rockies Top Prospects | Baseball Prospectus ($$)
If you subscribe to Baseball Prospectus, they have released their list of Rockies top prospects heading into the 2025 season. In a list full of pitching, the lead-in is both ominous and exciting:
“The Rockies found out about pitching development, call the cops. No, not the regular cops.”
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