It’s the 17-year anniversary of the Rockies making one of the best trades in franchise history
Mar 26, 2025, 1:13 PM
On this day 17 years ago, the Colorado Rockies traded for left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. At the time of the trade, he had only had one season in which he threw more than 100 innings, and his stats weren’t very flashy. The Rockies gave up right-hander Ramón Ramírez in a one-for-one deal, and they ended up making the right choice.
De La Rosa spent nine years in Colorado and left his mark on the franchise leaderboards. He is first all-time in Rockies history in wins, second in strikeouts and second in innings pitched. His 4.35 ERA is 12th all-time and second among Rockies pitchers who threw more than 800 innings with the team.
In 2009, his second season in the Mile High City, De La Rosa showed that the Rockies traded for the right player, throwing 193 strikeouts while going 16-9 in his starts. He then had an even better season in 2014, posting a career-best 3.49 ERA with a 1.237 WHIP.
While he never got an opportunity to pitch for the Rockies in the postseason (his first appearance was in 2017 with the St. Louis Cardinals against the Rockies), he still made his time in Colorado count. He tends to flies under the radar in favor of players like Germán Márquez and Ubaldo Jiménez when talking about some of the best aces in franchise history, but his impact is just as important as the others.
De La Rosa wasn’t apart of a lot of winning baseball during his time in Colorado, as the team only had two seasons with a record over .500 when he was on the mound, but he did give the fans something to cheer about.
It’s not easy for a pitcher to come to Coors Field as a 27-year-old who hasn’t had a solid track record and fall out of the league. Instead, he turned his career around en route to becoming one of the best pitchers in franchise history. 17 years later, this trade is still one of the top ones in franchise history.
