Warming Bernabel Elects Free Agency After Rockies Place Him on Waivers

The Colorado Rockies parted ways with another piece of last year’s team by putting Warming Bernabel on outright waivers.

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The Colorado Rockies and Warming Bernabel have parted ways as the rookie corner infielder elected free agency on Saturday, per Rockies Club Information.

The Rockies placed him out outright waivers and after he went unclaimed, he elected to become a free agent when Colorado attempted to option him to Triple-A Albuquerque. The move cleared a 40-man roster spot and the Rockies head to the MLB winter meetings with a 37-man roster.

That ends Bernabel’s short, but sweet, run with the Rockies, as the 23-year-old finally got his call-up in July and played 40 games in the Majors with the Rockies during their 119-loss season.

Warming Bernabel’s Rockies Career

The Rockies called up Bernabel on July 26 to take over at third base after they traded Ryan McMahon to the New York Yankees in a deadline deal. The traded created an opening at third base and instead of calling up Top 10 prospect Kyle Karros the Rockies opted for Bernabel, who had been in the organization since 2019 when he was signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic.

In 40 games with the Rockies, he slashed .252/.288/.410 with four home runs and 14 RBI. He also logged games at first base. But the promotion of Karros in August, followed by the promotion of Blaine Crim at first base in September, siphoned off playing time from Bernabel. He spent time on the 7-day concussion list but finished the season on the active roster.  

Before his promotion he was having a great season at Albuquerque, as he slashed .301/.356/.450 with eight home runs and 45 RBI in 75 games in is his first season at Triple-A.

He started his pro career with the Rockies’ Dominican Summer League affiliate in 2019. The COVID-19 shutdown of minor league baseball put a hold on his progress. In 2021 he played in the Arizona Complex League and with Class-A Fresno. He returned to Fresno to start 2022 and was promoted to High-A Spokane. He started the 2023 season at Double-A Harford but he missed time due to injury and spent another season at Hartford in 2024 before his promotion to Albuquerque.

He’s played in 475 minor league games and has a career slash of .277/.327/.419 with 50 home runs and 285 RBI.

Karros, the son of former Major League star Eric Karros, is the presumed starting third baseman in 2026 while Crim has the inside track at first base. But with new team leadership they’re attempting to upgrade the roster. Bernabel is no longer part of their plans.

Recommended Articles

feed