As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
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This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
Colorado Rockies
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $15,723,400 (6th)
- Top 100 selections - 4, 45, 74, 77
The Rockies have by far the most bonus pool money in this division, thanks mainly to the fourth overall selection. Possessing four picks inside the top eighty positions them well to take advantage of the depth present in this draft and revitalize a farm system that’s trending in the right direction but lacks actual impact at the top and quality depth outside of the first few tiers of prospects.
2024 Draft Overview
The Rockies picked third overall last season, selecting what many argued was the best overall player in Charlie Condon ($180,000 over slot). This draft featured picks primarily around slot value, only wavering by a few hundred thousand over or under to balance out.
Brody Brecht ($250,000 over slot) and Jared Thomas ($225,000 under slot) were promising picks in the second and third rounds, respectively.
However, the story of this draft class was primarily about the usage of money. They assuredly had opportunities to move money around early, yet for the most part, they went chalk all the way down. They loved what Condon brought to the table and were willing to bring him into the fold at that price, ultimately dampening their lower flexibility on the draft board.
Overall, it worked out well for them, and if Condon is able to get his feet underneath him, this could look like a tremendous draft haul for the Rockies.
2023 Draft Overview
What ended up being a relatively pitching-heavy class, the Rockies landed their potential staff ace in Chase Dollander (slot) with the tenth overall selection.
They followed up with college arms Sean Sullivan ($170,000 underslot), Jack Mahoney ($5,000 underslot), Isaiah Coupet ($15,000 underslot), Cade Denton ($160,000 overslot), and Seth Halvorsen ($65,000 underslot) in the following rounds with Cole Carrigg ($120,000 overslot) mixed in the middle.
They ultimately followed a similar strategy to that of 2024: Stick right around slot value and take the best player on your board. For the most part, it’s been a mix of four-seam guys and sinker guys, with no clear direction as to what they ultimately prefer.
However, their picks closer to the top have usually been able to ride a fastball (Brecht, Sullivan, Dollander). They’ve done well following this strategy lately, and I’d expect them to continue with it in 2025.
2022 Draft Overview
In another pitching-heavy draft, Colorado went with Gonzaga right-hander Gabriel Hughes ($980,000 under slot) with the tenth overall selection. Then followed up with outfielders Sterlin Thompson (slot) and Jordan Beck ($150,000 over slot).
While the top of the class has been hit or miss, landing Zach Agnos ($10,000 over slot) was a nice get for their bullpen, and I think Michael Prosecky (slot) still has a little bit of juice left in him if he can stay on the mound consistently.
This was a somewhat abnormal strategy for Colorado, which went heavily undershot with their first pick to try and distribute the savings. However, they weren’t able to extract a ton of value by doing that, which ultimately hurt the overall production of the class. Perhaps this draft caused them to pivot to their modern approach of sticking to the slot. However, they were still able to find some solid players despite their missteps.
Early Round Demographics
The Rockies have greatly emphasized collegiate players as of late, selecting just one prep (second-rounder Jackson Cox) in the top ten rounds of the previous three drafts. They’ve taken several power arms near the top recently.
However, the primary correlation between the vast majority of their early-round players is large conference performers in the collegiate ranks. I don’t expect them to have any strong vindications on whether they take a pitcher or a hitter at the top of their draft.
Yet, they would undoubtedly be bucking their status quo if they took a prep player early. It wasn’t a strategy that was paying off for them earlier in the decade, and it feels as though there’s been a marked shift away from that ideology. Their most recent drafts have looked much more promising now that they’ve seemingly made this shift, and as such, I’d expect them to continue this general philosophy.
Late Round Demographics
Colorado has done a nice job at extracting value out of their later-round guys, nabbing Michael Prosecky (6th rounder), Zach Agnos (10th rounder), and Carson Skipper (11th rounder) all from the same draft class. With Cade Denton (6th rounder) and Seth Halvorsen (7th rounder) bulking up the 2023 class and the early returns on the 2024 class looking solid, the Rockies have built up a nice track record of arms they’ve been able to turn into more than their draft position might indicate.
It’s been beaten to death how hard it is to pitch in Coors Field, but at some point, talent will win out. Suppose they can continue to turn late round arms into interesting pieces. In that case, Colorado will position themselves well for building a competent bullpen that can keep them in close games and maybe, just maybe, in the win column.
Names to Know
Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M OF - LaViolette is not terribly dissimilar from last year’s first rounder Charlie Condon and he fits the kind of profile Colorado has been comfortable with drafting in the past.
Jamie Arnold, Florida State LHP - I’d be somewhat surprised if Arnold slipped this low, however with as wild as this draft cycle has been, nothing is off the table. He checks a lot of boxes that Colorado looks for in a pitcher.
Aiva Arquette, Oregon State SS - Arquette has the numbers and track record to get his name called this early, and he profiles well with what Colorado has liked as of late.
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