ORLANDO, Fla. — One buzzword for the Rockies heading into spring training will be “competition.”

With moves still coming this offseason that will mix veterans into what was a very young Rockies roster in 2025, the battle for numerous positions will be fascinating to watch once the moving trucks arrive in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Outside of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, catcher Hunter Goodman and potentially center fielder Brenton Doyle, Colorado has plenty of question marks at each position when the 2026 season opens at the Miami Marlins on March 27. Last season, Colorado had a franchise-record 13 players make their MLB debut. The Rockies, who also announced the hiring of Tommy Tanous as assistant GM on Wednesday, finished the season with an average age of 26.0 on the active roster, making it MLB’s youngest active roster.

Expect the balance next season to shift back to a mix of veterans and young players still learning their craft.

“I think it’s a balance we’re trying to strike,” Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said at MLB’s winter meetings. “I don’t know that there’s a perfect formula to say, ‘Oh, we need exactly this number of veterans.’ Or that we need one in the infield, one in the middle infield and one in the outfield.”

Those veteran players won’t only get at-bats in 2026, but also lend their knowledge to help shape the next generation of Rockies.

“I do think there needs to be enough of a foundation from those guys that help establish a standard for the young guys,” DePodesta said. “Yes, you’re in the big leagues. That’s great, but now there’s the standard of this is what it means to be a professional. This is what it means to actually put in the work to go be a division champion, not just survive in the big leagues.”

Manager Warren Schaeffer welcomes the shakeup of the roster and the potential for competition when spring training arrives.

“I think it’s a really good thing to have competition,” Schaeffer said. “I think that that’s something that we’re going to embrace, and the players will love the option and have the ability to come into spring training and fight for a job.”

It doesn’t mean the Rockies will have complete roster turnover this offseason. Tovar and Doyle have Gold Gloves in previous seasons while Goodman is coming off arguably the best season for a catcher in Rockies history. Those are foundational building blocks for the Rockies, but new Colorado general manager Josh Byrnes believes there is upside for every player on the roster in 2026.

“Obviously 119 losses (in 2025). There’s no sugar coating that,” Byrnes said. “There’s a lot of work to do, creating winning standards and getting the right talent top to bottom in the organization. But obviously there are players we’ve liked through the years, players we liked out of the draft. Other than figuring out how we can keep getting better, adding more talent, and creating the right fits, there’s also a mindset of just maxing out the players. Is there more we can get out of each and every player? That discussion is critical.

“I’m taking an honest look at our roster, our minor league talent base, constantly looking to improve it, how it fits together as a team, and maxing out the players. I really would see it both ways, making sure we’re good at selecting and finding talent and good at maxing it out.”

DePodesta has said the Rockies potentially will bring in a veteran at first base as well as a pair of experienced starters for the pitching rotation. Second and third base are areas where the Rockies could use more quality depth after Adael Amador and Ryan Ritter totaled the second- and third-most innings at second last year (behind now-free agent Thairo Estrada) and Kyle Karros had the second-most innings at third base (behind Ryan McMahon, traded to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline).

Amador, Karros and Ritter are all 25 years old or younger and, if the Rockies consider them a part of the future, balancing their evolution with improving roster depth will be Colorado’s tightrope act of the spring.

“I am a believer in competition. I think competition does bring out the best in players,” DePodesta said. “I stop a little short of saying, ‘Oh, we don’t want anyone to be comfortable here.’ At some point, you do need to be able to lean into a young player and say, ‘Hey, listen, you’re going to be in the lineup for the next year. Don’t worry about going 0-for-4. Don’t worry about striking out a couple of times. You’re not being sent down.’ But they need to earn that opportunity.

“When someone earns that opportunity, then we’re going to give them plenty of runway to try to grow into that opportunity.”