Rockies Pave Way for Future at Third Base with Ryan McMahon Trade

The Colorado Rockies don’t have an exceptional option to replace Ryan McMahon at the Major League level. But there’s a future in the minor leagues.

Feb 20, 2025; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies infielder Kyle Karros (80) as shot during MLB Media Day at Salt River Fields. / Allan Henry-Imagn Images

Orlando Arcia is the answer to the trivia question, ‘Who started at third base for the Colorado Rockies the first game after Ryan McMahon was traded?’

Arcia, the seven-year veteran and World Series champion with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, made just his sixth start at third base this season as the Rockies opened their road trip against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.  

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It’s unlikely to be his job past this season. Before Friday he made 12 appearances at the position in the Majors. In fact, Arcia isn’t even on the depth chart at third base at MLB.com.

The depth chart includes Kyle Farmer and Tyler Freeman. Farmer, a nine-year veteran, has played 160 games at third base but, like Arcia, is better known as a middle infielder.

Freeman has 45 games at third base in his four-year career. He’s played most of his MLB career in the outfield.

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On Friday, Freeman started in right field and Farmer wasn’t in the starting lineup.

The trio are clearly a stopgap for the third baseman of the future, who is at Triple-A Albuquerque and could be ready for his first cup of coffee in the Majors later this season.

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That would be Kyle Karros, the Rockies’ No. 9 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He is the highest-ranked third baseman in the system.

Karros is the son of former Major League player Eric Karros, who played 14 years, mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, Kyle has been around the game since he was a kid, watching his father hit 284 home runs and drive in more than 1,000 RBI. He also won the National League rookie of the year award and an NL Silver Slugger at first base.

The younger Karros has been a quality and consistent hitter in the Rockies’ system since they drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB draft out of UCLA.

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In his first 65 games this season he’s slashed .294/.401/.450 with four home runs and 23 RBI. The rub is that he’s missed time with an injury and posted those numbers with three different affiliates, and he only joined Albuquerque on July 18.

With the Isotopes in six games, he’s slashed a respectable .250/.357/.292 with an RBI.

His 2024 season, which was entirely at High-A Spokane, is a better barometer of what he can for a full season. In 123 games he slashed .311/.390/.485 with 15 home runs and 78 RBI.

Karros’ progress may have made the Rockies more comfortable with the trade. Shedding the remaining two years of McMahon’s deal, worth about $32 million, probably didn’t hurt, either.  

Arcia, Farmer and Freeman look like stopgaps. The future is coming, and its last name is Karros.

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