After not tendering Brendan Rodgers, Rockies add Kyle Farmer, per report

Kyle Farmer is in for the Colorado Rockies’ infield, just hours after the team announced that 2022 Gold Glove winner Brendan Rodgers was out.

The Rockies reportedly agreed on a 1-year deal with a 1-year option, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network and the New York Post. Farmer spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Twins after four seasons with the Cincinnati Reds that followed a 6-year rise through the Los Angeles Dodgers organization that culminated in 59 games played with the big club in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Colorado will hope for a similar late-career revival from Farmer that it got from Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau in the early 2010s after those ex-Twins arrived in Denver. Of course, they had been All-Stars in the Twin Cities, a level that Farmer has not reached — although Farmer did attain cult-hero status with the Twins on account of a 2-run home run in the 1st inning of what would be Minnesota’s only win in a division-series setback to the Houston Astros in the 2023 preseason.

The move came with a hint of curiosity to it. At 34 years of age, Kyle Farmer appears to be an awkward fit in the template of a team looking to shed payroll and get younger. In fact, he’s eight days shy of being six full years older than Rodgers.

Further, Farmer’s .214 average and .647 OPS last year are his lowest season-long figures for any of the five campaigns in which he’s had at least 100 plate appearances. Of course, the afore-mentioned examples of Cuddyer and Morneau show how a move to Denver can revive fortunes.

Farmer will also be the second-oldest player on the Rockies’ 40-man roster. Only the recently re-signed Jacob Stallings is older; he turns 35 in December. This could suit the Rockies well if Farmer is a bridge that allows them to have more patience with prospect Adael Amador, who played 10 games in place of Rodgers last year before returning to AA Hartford and closing the season with his best flurry at that level.