Why, exactly, have the Rockies signed Blaine Crim?

The news dropped on Sunday, August 3.

A few minutes spent perusing Crim’s Baseball Reference page did little to elucidate the Colorado Rockies thinking.

Whey did they sign Crim?

The organization is known for its opacity, but the answer is probably a bit more pragmatic.

Never heard of him. Who is this guy?

That Crim’s name is unfamiliar should come as no surprise given that he has not (yet) had a notable professional baseball career.

The 28-year-old native of Mobile, Alabama, attended Mississippi College where he earned a .350 batting average and .585 slugging percentage while driving in 196 runs over the course of 189 games.

Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 2019 MLB draft, Crim’s minor-league career has been unremarkable. During his six season, he has had 2480 at-bats and earned a career slashline of .293/.372/.372 with a .877 OPS. In addition, he has hit 121 home runs.

Crim has played first base, third base, and left field though he has primarily been used at first and as a designated hitter. (Crim has not played the outfield since 2021 and third base since 2023.)

Frankly, defense is not his calling card. He’s more about a bat with power potential.

On May 2, 2025, Crim finally made his MLB debut with the Rangers.

Over eight days, he played in five games, going 0-11 with a walk and HBP. Additionally, he scored one run.

After that, Crim was returned to the Ranger’s Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, Texas, until he was DFA’d on July 31 to make room on the 40-man roster for the Rangers‘ trade deadline acquisitions.

Why did the Rockies add another first baseman?

On one hand, it seems a quintessential Rockies move: picking up a marginal player on the waiver wire and hoping for the best. On the other, if one thing has become clear this season, it’s that the Rockies really don’t have many infield options, and they have even fewer at first base.

Think about what has happened to the Rockies infield in 2025.

Thairo Estrada was signed to play second but has missed much of the season with injuries. Back in May, his replacement, Aaron Schunk, suffered a groin strain. And then, utility player Tyler Freeman had an oblique injury. Adael Amador was called up, but he was clearly not yet ready for Major League Baseball.

A desperate Rockies team also signed old friend and utility player Alan Trejo utility (then in the Rangers’ farm system) so that they could field a team. (He was DFA’d when injured players came off the IL.)

Kyle Farmer spent some time there, but he’s 34 and began having back issues.

That’s just second base.

Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar missed much of the first half of the season due to injuries, so he was replaced with prospect Ryan Ritter. When Tovar returned, Ritter moved to second and promptly lacerated his right middle finger while bunting. A healthy Estrada played the position until pulling his right hamstring on Tuesday night. In that same game, utility player Orlando Arcia was also injured, so Adael Amador was called up again to cover second.

Then there’s Michael Toglia at first base.

For a time, he led all MLB players in strikeouts. While a solid defender, Toglia was inconsistent and ineffective offensively. In an attempt to get him on track, the Rockies tried giving him a three-day, in-house sabbatical before sending him to ABQ for additional work. But a shortage of infielders brought him back to Denver. (The Rockies also tried playing Keston Hiura at first.)

Two weeks ago, the Rockies called up Warming Bernabel (who went on to become the NL Player of the Week). They also sent Toglia down again to work on his swing. Currently, he has a slashline of .194/.261/.361.

But one thing that’s become clear is that the Rockies have almost no options at first base — at least not until Charlie Condon is ready, and that may be a while.

And third base? Well, Ryan McMahon is now a New York Yankee. Arcia and Farmer were splitting time there, but Arcia may have a significant injury, and Farmer cannot be everywhere at once. Then there’s Kyle Karros, who, apparently, the Rockies do not think is ready yet. (But I think we’ll see him in September.)

Bernabel could play third, his natural position, but then who’s going to play first?

It’s an infield Whac-A-Mole.

Now, check out the Albuquerque Isotopes infield roster.

The options were always thin, but many of the Isotopes have been promoted, leaving the Rockies depth options even thinner.

For me, Crim fits in with Keston Hiura and Owen Miller: He’s helping staff a Triple-A club that lacks sufficient personnel. The prospects in Double-A aren’t ready for promotion, so signing Crim gives the Rockies another player who could be promoted (and then DFA’d) should they need to do so.

And there’s the clubhouse presence, which the Rockies are very big on.

As someone familiar with the Rockies’ thinking explained, Texas was positive about Crim, calling him “a big time clubhouse guy with power.” He’s an average defender (on a good day) with experience, and maybe he finds his swing.

FWIW, last night, he hit his first homer with the Isotopes:

For me, adding Crim is less another Rockies Hail Mary than it is an attempt to have enough players to finish the season.

The 2025 Colorado Rockies are historically bad, and you won’t hear me argue otherwise. However, an already-weak roster was further undercut due to infield injuries and player underperformance.

But let’s also not overlook the cause: a system that cannot consistently identify and develop baseball talent.

As signings go, bringing on Crim is fine, but the Rockies need to address the larger issues.

Okay, This is Cool!

The news broke yesterday.

Read more here.

What I‘m Reading

• A conversation with Colorado Rockies third base prospect Kyle Karros | FanGraphs — Karros is one of the players I am most eager to see at the MLB level. In this interview with David Laurila, Karros’ comments about his relationship with his father are especially interesting.
• I thought this was really interesting.

Closing Thoughts

And that’s it for this week.

Tonight, the Rockies will play the first game in a six-game road trip. They need to win 12 more games to avoid making infamous history.

Can they do it? I have no idea.

In Ryan Spilborghs’ podcast, he says he believes Orlando Arcia will require Tommy John surgery, and he also suspects the Rockies have seen the last of Thairo Estrada in 2025.

Aaron Schunk should be activated tonight, and I’m glad he’s going to get some additional MLB playing time. But look for additional roster moves as well.

Me, I’m ready for September call-ups.

As always, thanks for reading —

Renee

Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball. Find me on Bluesky at @ReneeDechert.com or send an email to Renee@RockiesPitch.com.