Colorado Rockies Would 'Never' Trade Homegrown Ace Kyle Freeland, Per ESPN Insider

Utility man Kyle Farmer seems like the most likely trade candidate for the Colorado Rockies in the coming months, all while the team holds onto veteran starting pitchers like Kyle Freeland and Germán Márquez.

Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland (21) pitches in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The trade deadline is still more than three months away, but the Colorado Rockies might already be cemented as sellers.

ESPN's David Schoenfield compiled a list of the most likely trade candidates across MLB, singling out one or two for each team. His pick for the last-place Rockies was utility man Kyle Farmer, a 34-year-old utility man who is batting .306 with a .795 OPS so far in 2025.

That most mostly due to process of elimination, since Schoenfield doesn't see the front office parting ways with any of its more established veterans.

Third baseman Ryan McMahon, for example, was labeled a franchise cornerstone, while starting pitcher Germán Márquez hasn't been able to force many whiffs in the final year of his contract and is unlikely to be targeted by contenders as a result.

As for Kyle Freeland, Schoenfield went as far as writing that he was a "homegrown local kid who they will never trade."

Freeland, 31, was the Rockies' first round pick back in 2014. He went to the University of Evansville in Indiana, but he was born and raised in Denver.

Since making his MLB debut in 2017, Freeland has taken the mound 210 times in a Rockies uniform, including four times on Opening Day. He ranks No. 2 in WAR, No. 3 in innings pitched, No. 4 in strikeouts, No. 5 in wins, No. 6 in ERA and No. 9 in WHIP in Colorado's franchise history.

Freeland's 205 starts over the past nine seasons rank No. 4 in the NL in that span.

Through five outings in 2025, Freeland is 0-4 with a 4.85 ERA, 1.269 WHIP, 6.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.0 WAR. That is a far cry from when he finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2018, but it does make him the Rockies' most effective starter so far this season.

Between Freeland, Márquez, fellow veterans Antonio Senzatela and Ryan Feltner and rookie Chase Dollander – plus Austin Gomber on the injured list – Colorado has a formidable collection of starters on paper. But considering the Rockies boast the worst record in baseball at 4-17, it certainly doesn't seem like that group will be carrying them to the postseason.

And yet, a traditionally dormant franchise like the Rockies may not opt to ship off too many key pieces in the coming months, instead opting to move around journeymen with an eye on salary relief and dark horse prospects.

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