Rockies Need To Adjust Draft Strategy To Get Franchise Heading in Right Direction

The Colorado Rockies are in need of a draft plan adjustment.

Sep 5, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; A detail view of a Colorado Rockies hat on top of a glove in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

There may not be a team in as bad of a position as the Colorado Rockies currently are.

Not only are they on pace to break the single-season record for losses, which was set by the Chicago White Sox last year with 121, but there aren’t many bright spots that provide hope or optimism that things are going to turn around any time soon.

At least some of the other teams near the bottom of the standings have something to be excited about moving forward.

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The Washington Nationals have superstar James Wood, along with shortstop CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a phenom starting pitcher, Paul Skenes, and a lights-out pitching staff.

Even the White Sox have already shown signs of improvement in 2025 compared to their abysmal 2024, and they have a lot of young, talented players making their way to the Major Leagues, some courtesy of the Garrett Crochet blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox.

The Rockies don’t have building blocks of that caliber or veterans with that much value to turn into a haul of prospects.

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Alas, Colorado has no one to blame but itself for the position that its currently in.

A major contributing factor to their lack of success has been their inability to draft and develop talent who can make an impact at the Major League level.

That is why Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report has shared the winning strategy for the Rockies in the 2025 MLB draft is to not lean so heavily into college players early and take a chance on some high school prospects.

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“It's a situation that is calling out for change, at least in terms of the draft prospects they typically go for. They have leaned heavily toward college players in recent years, but the wind may be changing in the direction of prep prospects,” Rymer wrote.

It would be a great story if the tides began to change with the selection of prep shortstop Ethan Holliday, the son of former Colorado star Matt Holliday and the younger brother of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2022 MLB draft.

Something has got to change for the Rockies, who have found zero success recently with their early draft selections.

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The last 14 first-round picks they have made have combined for a minus-2.0 fWAR in the bigs.

It doesn’t get much worse than that, as major changes are needed if Colorado wants any chance of turning things around any time soon.

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