The Rockies made a couple of trades this week, but my favorite news story that came out was that the Rockies will be unveiling two new statues this year – one for Larry Walker and one for Todd Helton.
The unveiling of the Larry Walker statue will be before the game on August 23rd, which is a Sunday day game against the Cleveland Guardians.
The unveiling of the Todd Helton statue will be before the game on September 19th, which is a Saturday night game against the Seattle Mariners.
And they’ll be handing out a replica of the statue for the first 15,000 fans of each game.
Pretty exciting!
I’m hoping my schedule allows me to go to both of these games. It would be cool to see the statue for the first time and to get one of those replica statues.
If anyone is interested in going, here are links to tickets on StubHub:
And now, let’s get into the rest of the Rockies news from this past week.
Rockies Trade Angel Chivilli to the New York Yankees for T.J. Rumfield
Angel Chivilli has been a relief pitcher for the Rockies for the past two seasons.
And last season, he struggled on the mound.
In 58.2 innings pitched, he posted an ERA of 7.06 for the season.
Despite his high ERA, the Yankees still liked what they saw and made a trade with the Rockies.
So on Wednesday, the Yankees traded first baseman T.J. Rumfield (their #22 prospect) for Angel Chivilli.
T.J. Rumfield has yet to play in an MLB game, but the Rockies are still on the hunt for a first baseman. So there’s a chance we could see T.J. Rumfield get called up this season.
In his 5 years in the Minor Leagues, T.J. Rumfield is hitting .271 with 52 home runs and 260 RBIs.
Hopefully, he continues to do well in AAA!
Rockies Trade Jace Kaminska to the Minnesota Twins for Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl
Jace Kaminska is a starting right-handed pitcher.
He was drafted by the Rockies in 2023, but he’s been recovering from Tommy John surgery and has only played part of one Minor League season with the Rockies’ Single-A team.
On Wednesday, the Rockies traded Jace Kaminska and cash to the Minnesota Twins for Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl.
Edouard Julien is a 26-year-old second baseman
In 2023, he was a key offensive player for the Twins, but his production has declined over the past two seasons and he bounced around between AAA and MLB.
Pierson Ohl is a 26-year-old right-handed relief pitcher.
He also bounced around between AAA and MLB, but 2025 was his first time pitching in the majors. He logged 30.0 innings pitched with an ERA of 5.10.
Both Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl are now listed on the Rockies’ 40-man roster.
I don’t think we’ll see either of them on opening day, but they should have plenty of opportunities to make an impact this season.
Yanquiel Fernández Designated For Assignment
At one point, Yanquiel Fernández was the Rockies’ #3 overall prospect.
He made his Major League debut last season with the Rockies, but he only hit .225 in his 52 games.
Unfortunately for Yanquiel Fernández, he’s an outfielder. And the Rockies are already set on all their outfielders.
So on Wednesday, the Rockies listed Yanquiel Fernández as Designated for Assignment (DFA).
Now that Yanquiel Fernández is designated for assignment, he’s removed from the Rockies’ 40-man roster. And there is a 7-day window where one of the following things could happen:
- He could get traded
- He could get sent to the Rockies’ Triple-A team, the Albuquerque Isotopes
- He could get placed on Outright Waivers and another team could pick him up and place him on their 40-man roster
I think there’s also a chance he could head to free agency if nothing happens during that 7-day window. But honestly, there are so many rules around designating someone for assignment that it’s hard to keep up.
We’ll be hearing what happens soon, though.
No “Prospect Spotlight” This Week
During the offseason, I’ve been adding a “Prospect Spotlight” section so we can learn more about the Rockies’ top prospects and get a glimpse of who we might see at Coors Field.
But, MLB must be doing some re-arrangement with their top prospects for the 2026 season because all that shows up is a “Coming soon…” message.
And it completely messed up my process.
So, I’ll be adding this section again sometime soon.
Hopefully, next week.
That wraps up this week’s newsletter. Hope everyone has a great week!
-Steve
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