On Jan. 28, the Rockies made a pair of seemingly minor trades to acquire lefty bats. For those who cared about such items, the one that gleaned a tad more interest was obtaining Edouard Julien from the Twins, since he had major league experience dating to 2023, when he actually finished seventh for AL Rookie of the Year.

For those who noted the other deal, it was mainly about the Yankees side of it. They were determined to add power and depth options to their bullpen and had success in the recent past taking a talented arm, like Angel Chivilli, and working to shape and sequence the stuff better.

The Yankees traded TJ Rumfield, who would turn 26 in May, had just spent two seasons at Triple-A and wasn’t even on the 40-man roster, which meant a month earlier every team had a shot at him in the Rule 5 draft and passed. Most overtly, as a lefty-swinging first baseman, he was blocked by Ben Rice.

The Rockies, who had the fewest lefty plate appearances in 2025, were prioritizing that side of the plate, which is why earlier in the month they had acquired outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Diamondbacks for pitcher Josh Grosz, who was part of the return from the Yankees last July for Ryan McMahon. They also signed switch-hitting Willi Castro, plus added Julien. They focused on players in their 20s who might have hit roadblocks, but still had profiles the team liked.