The 2026 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline has come and gone, and Colorado Rockies All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman is staying put.

Despite a lot of speculation, the Rockies front office ultimately decided not to move on from Goodman at the Deadline.

After nearly a decade spent in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Rockies President of Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta is using his first season with the team to build for the future, and Goodman seems to be a part of those plans.

For DePodesta, the idea of parting with Goodman or other quality roster pieces would have taken a lot, and he made it clear that moves regarding Goodman or his teammates that were a part of trade rumors were not "particularly close."

By retaining Goodman, Colorado is indicating that he is central to the core of a winning team it wants to create.

Recently, I wrote about why retaining Goodman could be beneficial for the Rockies. He is only 26 years old, and he is not set to become an unrestricted free agent until 2030.

Moreover, having a two-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger under affordable club control for years to come is what a struggling team like the Rockies not only wants, but needs to create a winning culture. What would be the point of moving off him now, except to sink further into a rebuild?

For all intents and purposes, the Rockies’ season is a wash. At 45-68, they currently have the second-worst record in baseball.

However, it is important to recognize that Colorado has already won two more games than it did during the disastrous 2025 campaign that ended with a 43-119 record, which was the worst finish to a 162-game slate in franchise history.

The Rockies are already familiar with rock bottom, and they are slowly picking themselves back up. Goodman is part of the equation for the revival of a team that has not had a winning season since 2018, when players such as Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon were headlining the roster.

Now, it is players such as Goodman and Jake McCarthy who are at the forefront of the effort on the field to bring winning baseball back to Coors Field. It would be one thing if Goodman was on a bloated contract with a limited runway, or if he were an older player with nothing left to prove or provide, but neither are the case.

Therefore, DePodesta is putting his faith into Goodman and the other young talent to help usher in a new and better era for the team, and his bet might pay off.