Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The "Ranking" is an organizing principle that's drawn from Baseball Reference's WAR (rWAR). It's not something the staff debated. We'll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
On one hand, Vimael Machín had the best MLB season of his career — one that's spanned five big league seasons and 10 minor league seasons.
Playing in his first season for the Rockies, he hit .500 with a .500 on-base percentage and 1.000 OPS as well.
The only problem was that Machín only had six at-bats in three games.
The Rockies signed the 33-year-old infielder to a minor league contract on Dec. 21, 2025 and extended an invite to spring training. After being assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque, Machín had a successful year with the Isotopes. In 438 at-bats in 113 games, the Puerto Rican hit .288/.367/.438 with an OPS of .805. He hit 12 homers, 22 doubles and four triples, scored 61 runs, drove in 73 more runs, drew 53 walks and struck out 71 times.
He seemed like a great candidate for a September call-up, but the honor went to Adael Amador and Blas Castaño. Then, infielder Willi Castro got hurt and was placed on the IL on Sept. 5. The Rockies turned to Machín for some late-season infield depth, while optioning Tyler Freeman to the Isotopes.
From Sept. 6 to Sept.13, Machín started two games — against the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals — at third base, going 2-for-5 with two strikeouts. He also went 1-for-1 as a pinch hitter against the Yankees.
When starting pitcher José Quintana was ready to rejoin the rotation on Sept. 19 , Machín hadn't proven enough to stay on the roster for the final eight games of the season.
This season proved to be much like the majority of Machín's career has played out: success in the minor leagues that doesn't always translate to the big leagues.
Machín was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2015 out of Virginia Commonwealth University. He then went on a roller coaster ride of climbing the Cubs farm system before being put on the waiver wire in 2019. He was then picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies and traded to the Oakland A's on the same day in the 2019 offseason.
He made his MLB debut in 2020 and moved back and forth between the A's and the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators throughout 2021 and 2022. He played in 73 games in 2022, but never found his way at the plate, hitting .220/.300/.287 with a .587 OPS. In 2023, Machín played his entire season with the Aviators and chose free agency afterward.
In 2024, he played for the Charros de Jalisco in Mexico, then signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles before the 2025 season. He only played in four games, going 1-for-11 at the plate. Meanwhile, in the for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, he hit .286/.347/.476 with an .823 OPS.
The same scene played out for the Rockies in 2026. On Sept. 19, the Rockies designated Machín for assignment. After clearing the waiver wires, he was outrighted to the ACL Rockies on Sept. 22. Considering Colorado signed Machín to a 1-year, $780,000 deal for 2026, and the Rockies have lots of infield depth ahead of him, Machín faces an uncertain future this offseason.
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