On the surface, Colorado Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak appeared to be available at and was drawing attention.
Behind the scenes, though, the Rockies were already negotiating a deal to keep him in town.
Moniak agreed Tuesday to a $16.25 million, two-year contract that covers 2027 and ’28. He gets $7.25 million next season, which would have been his final year of arbitration eligibility, and $9 million in 2028, when he would have been eligible for free agency under contract.
Moniak has thrived at hitter friendly Coors Field since signing with Colorado in March 2025. He’s hitting .277 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs across 75 games this season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret that I love it here,鈥� Moniak said before the Rockies faced the AL-leading . 鈥淓ver since I鈥檝e stepped foot in Colorado and Denver and in this organization, it just felt like home.鈥�
The 28-year-old, who has a $4 million salary this year, was the No. 1 overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2016 amateur draft. He’s no stranger to being dealt at the deadline with the Phillies trading him to the Los Angeles Angels in 2022.
He said that after Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Royals he had a handshake agreement with the team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a crazy process. First time I鈥檝e ever done something like this,鈥� Moniak said. 鈥淛ust extremely happy, for sure.鈥�
Moniak has become a leader in the clubhouse as the Rockies try to turn things around behind a new front office led by and Josh Byrnes. Colorado made several trade deadline deals for prospects Monday, sending reliever Antonio Senzatela to Milwaukee, outfielder Brenton Doyle to the Chicago White Sox and reliever Victor Vodnik to Miami.
But after some calls with teams over the last few weeks they decided it was more prudent to extend Moniak.
鈥淲e all felt like the better thing to do for us was to keep him 鈥� and not just keep him and play out the next year and a half, but really keep him,鈥� DePodesta said. 鈥淗e’s very much a part of what we鈥檙e trying to be, both on the field and off the field. To be able to give him an extension is also just a message not just to the rest of our team, but hopefully to our fans and our market that we鈥檙e actually building toward something here.
鈥淭his deadline wasn鈥檛 just about trading players away. It was actually about building toward something better going forward.鈥�
The Rockies already have more wins this season than all of last year when they went 43-119 (their third straight 100-loss season). They haven’t made the playoffs since 2018.
鈥淚 truly believe in what we鈥檙e doing here,鈥� explained Moniak, who said he and his wife are expecting a daughter. “This is a place that鈥檚 starving for winning baseball. … To be able to bring winning baseball back to Colorado truly would mean the world.
鈥淵ou see (the support) here with the records that we鈥檝e had over the last year and a half. Can鈥檛 imagine what it鈥檚 like when we鈥檙e competing in October and further. That鈥檚 a very attainable goal for this team and the guys we have in the very near future.鈥�
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed.
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