Colorado Rockies give Chris Nelson another chance, albeit with very different expectations

On Monday morning, the Rockies brought back a former member of the left side of their infield who was a top-ten overall pick and part of Colorado's last winning season. But wait! It's not the guy you think... it's Chris Nelson, returning to the organization on a minor league deal after three years elsewhere on a professional baseball odyssey.

If you haven't kept up with Nelson after he left Colorado the first time back in 2013, the former first round pick (2004) and Georgia native has spent time with the Yankees, Angels, Reds, Padres, Phillies, Brewers, and Nationals, appearing in both the Major Leagues and Triple-A (though he didn't appear in the big leagues at all in 2015).

On one level, that's relatively surprising, considering Nelson never got near the potential the Rockies hoped he had coming out of high school in 2004 after slowly working his way up the minor league system. But on the other hand, well, a former first round draft pick is going to get a lot of opportunities in professional baseball—and as Nelson transitions into his true pro ceiling, as a fourth/fifth utility infielder, he has a chance to carve out a big league role for at least the next few years, even if it's not the one initially pegged for him more than a decade ago.

So while he's an old friend and pretty well-known within the organization and its fans, let's run him through as part of our continued series of free agent newcomers to profile ahead of spring training. For Nelson, it's been a hell of a journey across baseball the last three seasons.

Scouting Chris Nelson

Nelson never really hit in Denver, save one big year in 2012, and after he left the Rockies he never really hit elsewhere in the big leagues, either, when he appeared for both the Yankees and Angels in 2013, and the Padres in 2014. To put our profile in context, here's his full Major League stat line:

The 2012 season should stand out, of course—the Rockies finally gave Nelson some time and space to play, and really, he rewarded them with a very strong season at the plate while predominantly playing third base. But a slower start to begin 2013, a guy named Nolan Arenado waiting in the wings, and a lot of other factors started the big league journey for Nelson since that time, and he now comes full circle returning to Colorado.

He's never done anything notable at the Major League level outside of Denver, but then again he hasn't been given a ton of time to get into a rhythm, anyways. Minor injuries, promotions and demotions, and more have contributed to what overall looks like something (202 big league games from 2012 through 2014, that's a decent amount!) but when split between four organizations, suddenly loses a bit of luster.

Here are the stats from his recent, applicable appearances in the high minor leagues since departing Colorado a little less than three years ago:

Combine the big leagues and Triple-A, and since his time in Colorado, he's put on nine different uniforms in not even three full seasons. Really, it's quite a testament to Nelson that he's been able to fight through the last several years and come out with yet another contract in affiliated baseball this spring. The man has nine lives.

Those minor adversities have given the now-utility infielder quite the whirlwind since the Rockies moved on from him the first time, with a transaction log over the last three years that has more tickets punched than Taylor Swift's passport after the 1989 World Tour, according to data from MiLB.com:

Wow. Since the day he played his last game in a Rockies uniform in April 2013, that's 37 transactions across professional baseball. Of course, some of them are repetitive (being acquired and then assigned to a certain level counting as two transactions) and some aren't of much note (being placed on a winter club's reserve list), but boy, has Nelson been on a whirlwind the last several seasons.

The Brewers signed him last summer a day after the Phillies released him, and then the Nationals signed him four days after the Brewers released him later in the same season. The Reds brought him to spring training in 2014, cut him before Opening Day, then re-signed him a week later to play in Triple-A Louisville. He was in the big leagues with the Padres in 2014, too, when the team placed him on the paternity list (yay!) only to designate him for assignment two days later. (Womp, womp.)

That's kind of how it goes for a utility infielder, especially one long on experience and shot on options, always warranting a risky roster spot and the DFAs that come with it. That's also how it goes for a guy who, frankly, hasn't done enough at most stops to warrant sticking around longer than he has with one organization, and yet has enough of a big league background and on-field positional flexibility to be able to constantly weigh out new options elsewhere. Such is the benefit of that other thing Chris Nelson has, I suppose: as a former first-round draft pick, he gets a lot of chances, and that means Nelson ought to make a career the next few years out of being on that cusp of Triple-A and the Major Leagues. (Like a lot of guys, after all; it's good work if you can get it.)

As far as his on-field ability, you know what he does: he'll play pretty much every position on defense, he'll be consistent and reliable but not flashy or overly noticeable, maybe he'll hit a little bit (but maybe not), and at this point in his career, he has kind of found where he fits as that fourth or fifth infielder coming off a bench when he gets the opportunity. Here's the breakdown of his defensive career, by position:

And maybe his most memorable moment to date in the Major Leagues, just 'cause:

A steal of home, the last winning Rockies team, Eric Young, Jr., Jim Tracy, Troy Tulowitzki as a much younger guy, Seth Smith, Clint Barmes, Dexter Fowler... ahh, the nostalgia.

Chris Nelson's best comp on the Rockies

Right now Nelson's best comp on the Rockies is, of course, Rafael Ynoa or Daniel Descalso. We know how much manager Walt Weiss loves both Ynoa and Descalso, but there might be some room there for Nelson to jump in and earn a big league job on the bench for this team, which is expected to go nowhere anyways, if he proves he can outhit Ynoa and/or Descalso in the spring and play good enough defense to be that fifth infielder/utility-whatever man off the bench over the summer. Doubtful, but obviously possible, or else he wouldn't even be in camp.

What to expect in 2016

This, of course, is not former first round draft pick Chris Nelson. I mean it is, in the technical sense—he's the same human being, the same player—but this isn't the same guy carrying the same weight and expectations. An everyday role has long passed him by, unless everybody gets injured and he needs to fill in for a few weeks or months, and in that case the season would be well out of the Rockies' hands, anyways. But that doesn't mean he can't contribute, even with far lower expectations than he had with this same club just a few short seasons ago.

The very fact that the Rockies signed Nelson ahead of spring training is an interesting move, if only because it admits either (a) the team is perhaps not sold on Descalso and Ynoa, (b) the team is not yet sold on Cristhian Adames and Trevor Story, (c) the team has decided to add another contingency plan for Jose Reyes' ongoing domestic violence situation—or (d) perhaps most likely, a combination of all the above.

A lot of things could fall one way or another for Nelson this spring; maybe the Rockies will release him before the season ever starts. Maybe he usurps Descalso or Ynoa, or takes Reyes' spot on the 40-man roster, and lives in that utility realm for the big league club this summer. Maybe he plays out all or part of the season in Triple-A Albuquerque. But at still just 29 years old, even with his constant movement around the league, Nelson's career is not yet done and the Rockies didn't just bring him into camp to give a hat tip to one of the organization's former draft picks. In the murky situation that is the Colorado Rockies' current bench, Chris Nelson will get a shot to prove he belongs this spring, albeit with far different expectations than his last time in the organization.