Colorado Rockies news and links for Thursday, February 6, 2025
Earlier this week, we received one of the most-discussed pieces of the offseason cycle: the 2025 iteration of Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA standings.
Speculation abounds! These projections, while of course not iron-clad, are some of the most respected and studied in the baseball landscape, so it’s no wonder that folks eagerly await them every year.
So what are some of the most interesting revelations in this year’s edition? Well, it’s largely what we would have predicted at the end of 2024: the Dodgers are monsters, no surprise there… the Cubs winning the NL Central, good for them… Texas over Houston? Hey, that’s cool. Yes, it’s more or less what you’d expect, and uh…
Wait… what’s that?
That… that can’t be, right?
I mean, I’m a fan of both of these teams (yes, I am in therapy), and I can tell you that while the Rockies have their fair share of issues, they’re nowhere near the White Sox in terms of futility.
Obviously, Colorado can’t hope to have the same astronomical expectations that the Dodgers or Yankees do, but they seem to be making the moves necessary to allow for their exciting young talent to take center stage and lead the team to success. The White Sox, meanwhile, recently traded away their ace and are seemingly on the verge of moving even more of their stars – such as they are – before too long. That leaves them with a roster of players that, frankly, don’t inspire much confidence as the team attempts to avoid a follow-up to what could reasonably be called the worst season of all time.
Despite teetering on the brink of absolute despair, Chicago is viewed as superior to Colorado, at least in PECOTA’s eyes. That’s probably because of each team’s division – that is to say, the NL West is, on average, a stronger division than the AL Central (despite the latter seeing three teams advance to the postseason last year).
The thing is, divisional adversaries don’t play each other as often as they once did (which is a shame considering Colorado’s weirdly strong history of play against the Padres). While it’s true that they’d surely be outclassed by the other members of the NL West, the Rockies are more likely to be able to hold their own against teams like the Marlins, Pirates, Reds, and Nationals, and (hopefully) use wins against these clubs to inch closer to .500.
You can get more specific, if you want. Take FanGraphs’ ZiPS Projections, which have the Rockies edging the White Sox in just about every position. Colorado’s minor league system may not boast quite as much high-ceiling prospect talent as Chicago overall, but those players are a ways off from seeing playing time with the big league club and are therefore unlikely to impact their standing next season (as opposed to the likes of Zac Veen, Adael Amador, and Carson Palmquist, who all have outside chances to appear at Coors Field in 2025).
I’ve written about these two franchises sharing similarities in the past, but right now they seem worlds apart. The Rockies, despite playing in a brutal division, are creating new stars while poised to welcome some of the most exciting prospects they’ve seen in years.
The White Sox, meanwhile, are fresh off of the worst season they’ve ever experienced and don’t seem likely to improve much, if at all. Their youngsters aren’t close to debuting, and the scant bright spots they currently have on their roster are soon to depart for greener pastures. Things are so dire for the south side squad that there’s talk of them leaving Chicago altogether, a fate worse than any win-loss record.
While the Rockies will almost certainly occupy the basement of the NL West again this coming season, I don’t buy that they’re going to struggle as badly as my lowly White Sox. Neither team have playoff aspirations and will be fighting tooth and nail to finish with a .500 record – for my money, Colorado has the easier path to doing so.
Time will tell how that prediction shakes out, but from a purely statistical standpoint, I think the Rockies will be able to eclipse the White Sox’ record, even if Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar have to do it themselves.
What about you? Do you think the Rockies will be better than the White Sox, or will the second city beat out the 303? Let me know in the comments section below!
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What Dante Bichette’s life as a baseball dad has taught him | MLB.com
Read about former Rockie Dante Bichette’s mindset as he prepares his sons for the rigors of competing in the world’s hardest game.
Kris Bryant Could Determine How Much Rockies Improve in 2025 | Just Baseball
Kris Bryant content! There’s no one reading this that doesn’t know about Kris Bryant’s struggles since inking his deal with the Rockies three years ago. Could this finally – finally – be the year he bounces back and becomes the effective veteran presence that they want him to be?
Predicting each club’s No. 1 prospect in 2027 | MLB.com
MLB.com is deep in their rankings of each team’s top 30 prospects. That’s the now, though – what about the future? Read on about which Rockies prospect they believe will be the next big thing in a couple years.
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