Colorado Lost 104 Games Again — and Its Offseason Window May Close by Dec. 2

The Colorado Rockies' 2026 season ended at 58-104, a .358 winning percentage with a minus-192 run differential (752 scored, 944 allowed). That is an ugly line, but it is not the most interesting thing about this week.

The most compelling story out of Denver right now is timing. The Rockies are entering their first full offseason under president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes — the front office that took over after the historically bad 43-119 season of 2025 — and the calendar is not cooperating.

The World Series will end on Oct. 27 at the earliest, and the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 2, bringing a presumed lockout. That leaves roughly a month for roster decisions: arbitration offers, free-agent shopping, and any trades. The Rockies have at least five arbitration-eligible players to sort through, according to a briefing this week, on top of an offseason shopping list that Colorado's own beat coverage framed around one central unknown — how much payroll ownership will actually authorize.

What 2026 actually established

The raw numbers were still bad. The Rockies pitched to a 5.81 team ERA with a 1.55 WHIP and served up 214 home runs. The offense hit .253/.322/.416 with 183 home runs — better than the depths of the recent past, but not enough to cover a staff that allowed 5.83 runs per game.

The improvement over 2025 is real, if modest. Roster churn raised the floor; the club moved on from a number of 2025 contributors, and the replacement-level disaster that defined the 43-119 season was largely absent. The September numbers, though, are a warning: Colorado went 6-18 in the final month while being outscored 156-107. The split lines tell a similar story — a .468 winning percentage at home versus .340 on the road.

The health question matters more than any signing

Look at the current injury list: Chase Dollander, McCade Brown, Pierson Ohl and Welinton Herrera are all on the 60-day IL, and Kris Bryant — whose guaranteed contract runs at $52MM through 2028 — spent all of 2026 on the 60-day list. Tyler Freeman finished the year on the 10-day IL.

A rotation that was already thinned by injuries is the single biggest variable between another 100-loss season and genuine progress. No amount of modest free-agent spending fixes a staff that can't keep arms on the mound.

The Freeland fork

Kyle Freeland's status looms over the winter. The left-hander has spent his entire career in Colorado, finished the year ranked near the bottom of the site's season review, and could be entering his final season with the club. His contract carries an innings-based mechanism, and his 2026 was defined more by an IL stint than by results. Whether the Rockies keep him, move him, or simply let the deal play out is a direct statement about how the front office views the 2027 rotation.

What to watch

The pieces are in place organizationally — DePodesta, Byrnes, manager Warren Schaeffer, and assistant GM Tommy Tanous running scouting and player development. The question is whether a Dec. 2 deadline forces them into a rushed version of a plan that needed a full winter.

Colorado doesn't need to contend in 2027. It needs to stop losing 100 games and start building something. A lockout-shortened offseason makes even that modest goal harder to hit.