Rodgers, Quantrill non-tendered by Rockies

DENVER -- The Rockies non-tendered second baseman Brendan Rodgers and right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill prior to Friday’s 6 p.m. MST deadline to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players for the 2025 season. The pair was projected to earn in the neighborhood of a combined $13 million in arbitration.

The club tendered contracts to left-handed pitchers Austin Gomber and Lucas Gilbreath; right-handers Ryan Feltner, Justin Lawrence and Jimmy Herget; and outfielder Sam Hilliard.

Colorado agreed to one-year contracts with Hilliard and Gilbreath to avoid arbitration. A source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that the Hilliard contract is for $1 million and the contract for Gilbreath is for $785,000. The rest of the players who were tendered contracts have until Jan. 9 to exchange salary arbitration figures with the club or agree on a contract value to avoid arbitration.

Rodgers, 28, was selected third overall by the Rockies in the 2015 Draft. He was the organization’s No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, when he made his Major League debut in 2019. But injuries have plagued him throughout his career -- he appeared in 452 games for Colorado over six seasons and wasn’t able to fulfill the potential the Rockies saw in him. Overall, he has a career .725 OPS with 45 home runs and a 2022 Gold Glove Award.

“We considered all options with Brendan,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “Brendan gave a good effort. I think the world of Brendan. First and foremost, he’s a quality person. I wish him nothing but the best. But we had to make some tough decisions, and that was one of them.”

The Rockies also signed a one-year contract with veteran utility infielder Kyle Farmer.

The 34-year-old Farmer has been solid defensively during his eight-year Major League career, in which he's played for the Dodgers, Reds and Twins. At the plate, he has a career slash line of .250/.310/.391.

Farmer could serve as a short-term replacement for Rodgers as the Rockies wait for infield prospects to establish themselves in the Majors. Those prospects include Adael Amador, Aaron Schunk and Ryan Ritter.

Amador is the organization’s No. 5 prospect, and he made his MLB debut on June 9. He went 6-for-35 (.171) with a double and a steal before landing on the injured list with an oblique strain. He got off to a slow start at Triple-A Albuquerque, but finished the season on a high note.

Schunk made his Major League debut on June 29. He went 22-for-94 (.234) with three doubles and two homers for the Rockies. In 69 games with Albuquerque this past season, he posted a .291/.339/.469 slash line with seven homers and 11 steals.

Ritter is the club’s No. 12 prospect. He posted a .773 OPS with seven homers and 17 steals for Double-A Hartford in 2024.

Prior to the Farmer news, Schmidt said the Rockies would be monitoring the free agent and trade markets for potential solutions at second base.

“I don’t know if Amador’s ready, or Ritter, at this point in time,” Schmidt said. “But we’ll figure it out. We’ll look at the free-agent market and the potential trade market and see how we can fill it. Really, the idea is to get a better bench, and with that, we’ll be able to rest guys. We’ll be creative to improve the ballclub in that area.”

What Schmidt said is not likely is moving Gold Glove Award finalist Ryan McMahon from third base to second, where he saw significant time from 2019-21 after the departure of DJ LeMahieu in free agency.

Quantrill, 29, was acquired by the Rockies in a trade with the Guardians prior to the 2024 campaign. The right-hander posted a 4.98 ERA over 29 starts (148 1/3 innings), striking out 110 and issuing a National League-high 69 walks. Overall, Quantrill owns a career 4.07 ERA over six Major League seasons.

Over his first 14 starts of 2024, Quantrill had a 3.30 ERA and was particularly effective with his split-finger fastball at Coors Field. But from there, he struggled, pitching to a 6.88 ERA over his final 15 outings.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we didn’t trade him at the Deadline,” Schmidt said, referring to Quantrill’s strong first half. “A lot of things changed over the last four months -- it looks like [Germán] Márquez, who was hurt at the Deadline, it looks like he’s going to be healthy, and [Antonio] Senzatela came back and looked solid.

“But I also think it has a lot to do with our young guys, too -- [Rockies No. 2 prospect] Chase Dollander, [No. 10] Sean Sullivan and [No. 14] Carson Palmquist, to name a few. We’re in a different situation than we were four months ago.”

Gilbreath, a native of Westminster, Colo. -- just outside Denver -- was a seventh-round pick by the Rockies in 2017. In 97 appearances for Colorado, he has a 4.36 ERA (109 ERA+). He missed the entire 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery and only made three appearances last season before a shoulder injury sent him back to the injured list.

The Rockies drafted Hilliard in the 15th round in 2015, and he made his MLB debut in 2019. A powerful left-handed hitter, Hilliard posted a 1.006 OPS with seven homers in 27 games that year. Over the next two seasons, he clubbed 20 homers in 117 games, but his 36.7% strikeout rate limited his production. In '22, he struggled to a .544 OPS in 200 plate appearances.

Hilliard was traded to the Braves prior to the 2023 campaign. In 40 games that year, he posted a .725 OPS with three homers. The Orioles selected him off waivers the next offseason, but then placed him back on waivers during Spring Training. The Rockies then selected Hilliard off waivers from Baltimore and he began his second stint with Colorado. He put together a solid performance with an .812 OPS and 10 homers in 158 plate appearances.