The Rockies announced that they’ve claimed first baseman Blaine Crim off waivers from the Rangers today and optioned him to Triple-A. No corresponding move was necessary, and the Rockies’ 40-man roster now stands at 40. In addition, the Rangers announced that outfielder Dustin Harris has been assigned outright to Triple-A after clearing waivers.
Crim, 28, made his big league debut with Texas earlier this year. He appeared in just five games total for the Rangers and 0-11 with a walk and six strikeouts across 13 plate appearances. A 19th-round pick back in 2019 by the club, Crim climbed the minor league ladder and first reached the Triple-A level back in 2022. He’s a career .283/.374/.487 hitter in 363 games for the Rangers’ Round Rock affiliate, and his .284/.373/.515 slash line in 83 games at the level this year has generally been more of the same. That slash line looks better on paper before you consider the context of the Pacific Coast League’s inflated offensive environment, but he’s still a 119 wRC+ hitter at the level this year even after factoring that in.
That was enough to earn Crim the opportunity to step in at first base for the Rangers earlier this year when Jake Burger was briefly optioned to the minor leagues, although that cup of coffee did not go especially well. He’s been back in the minors since then, and was recently designated for assignment by Texas in order to make room for the addition of trade acquisition Merrill Kelly to the 40-man roster. Now, he’s been plucked off waivers by Colorado and will join a first base mix that already includes Michael Toglia and Warming Bernabel. Toglia has struggled badly in the majors this year and was optioned to the minors earlier today, but Bernabel recently made his big league debut and has gotten off to a hot start with three home runs in his first seven games as a big leaguer.
As for Harris, the 11th-round pick of the A’s back in 2019 made his big league debut with the Rangers last year. He went 2-for-7 with a home run in a two-game cup of coffee last year but struggled in 16 games this season to the tune of a 68 wRC+, leaving him with roughly league average results overall in 45 MLB plate appearances. That tiny sample doesn’t say much about his abilities, however, and a better look at him can be found in the form of his somewhat lackluster production at Triple-A this year. He’s slashed .262/.305/.401 in 66 games for Round Rock, good for a wRC+ of just 95. He’ll now serve as non-roster outfield depth for the Rangers going forward, but he’ll have the opportunity to elect minor league free agency after the season if he’s not added back to the 40-man roster.
Rox need to pick up Dick Mountain
It would be so cool to see Him then throw a no hitter at Coors Field
Poor guy . . .
Why? Going to Coors is exactly what the dude needs to scrape out a MLB career. This is a godsend for him.
Can’t be fun playing for the worst team ever. I live in Denver. The Rox are a dumpster fire; have been for years.
They don’t care that much. They’re getting paid well to live in a beautiful city and play a game. It’s mostly just fans who care that much. He’s probably mostly interested in getting 100 MLB PA’s this season so he can stay there next season. The rest is in your head.
Competitive people playing a competitive sport in the most competitive league in the world for that sport don’t care about winning? That’s just silly.
I hate losing him without giving him a legit shot. Crim can hit.
I agree, nice nab for the Rockies.
yeah I think Albemic Ortiz was going to take his spot next year anyway. I’m not too sad about it because Foscue needs to learn 1B if he is ever going to have a chance in the majors. It will be interesting to see if he gets a real chance in Col
I dunno why they dont take a mlb look at foscue at 1st. But Ortiz is gonna be gallo 2.o
Ortiz does not have Gallos power, nor his swing and miss. Foscues problem is that he’s is a line drive doubles hitter without much power. It would be fine if Foscue played 2B, but he’s a liability at basically every defensive position. Limited power plus a bad defense is not going to get you a 1B job at the MLB level, that position is a two tool position haha
#CallUpCrim
Thanks, Ted Lasso. Every player named Crimm is now followed in my head by “the Independent”
Good pickup
Just makes it even more likely that Toglia is a non-tender this off season. I hate that because last year I thought he might be a foundational piece. But seems it might be time to move on instead. Another wasted first round pick.
I watched that series between the Rockies and Pirates and it’s insane to me how their team has not performed better offensively. The ball was flying out the park for both teams, very uncharacteristic of the Pirates for sure. Rockies were pounding the ball as well, still seems easy to hit there but man the pitching is SO bad.
Well, Coors Field plays a lot differently when it is hot out. That is one of the reasons the Rockies started out so badly is because the cold weather lasted a lot longer than usual in Denver this year. The Rockies pitching actually started out pretty good this year. After the first week of the season, the Rockies had the best rotation ERA in the entire league and were 1-6. And you know the rest of the story.
Okay, that makes sense. It’s so hard to judge that team. They did play the polar opposite for a bit there. I almost feel like it’s pointless for them to even try when it comes to pitching. They even had a good prospect like Dollander and he was struggling badly. They should just plan to out slug everyone and shuffle around cheap pitchers hoping for the best. They locked up Freeland, Sentenzela and Marquez and got very little aside from Freeland.
They got quite a bit from Marquez as well. I would argue that he is the best starter in Rockies history as of right now. He has been hurt the past two year with TJ, but that is hardly a problem that only happens to the Rockies. Senzatela got bit with TJ and then tore his Achilles during the rehab, so it cost him an extra year off. Just bad luck really.
But I have ZERO problem with the Rockies signing those three to extensions. How else are they going to get pitching? They aren’t going to get free agents, so signing young guys to extensions is really the only shot. It won’t always work, but you still have to try.
The problem with outslugging everyone is that would have to basically replace their entire offense to do that. They are a team based on DEFENSE, not slugging. They haven’t had a good offense in a long time.
The Crim Dog!
Nothing about the other three moves the Rockies made today? Halvorsen going on the IL with an elbow injury is significant news. I bet there are a couple of teams out there thanking their lucky stars that they didn’t meet the Rockies price for that promising bullpen arm.
Chuck Crim wasn’t available?…
Wishing this guy the best. He’s done everything possible to deserve a real chance at the major league level. Can flat out hit. Wish the Rangers gave him more of a chance than 12 plate appearances in a few spot starts. Hope the Rox give him these next 2 months to play in the majors. Could be a solid pickup for them