Colorado Rockies: After Altuve signing, it’s time to talk to Nolan Arenado

On Friday, the Houston Astros locked up a key member of their franchise with a long-term extension well ahead of when actual negotiations would occur. It’s time for the Colorado Rockies to do the same with Nolan Arenado.

Houston inked Jose Altuve to a five-year extension worth $151 million that begins in 2020. That is the same year that, theoretically, Arenado would be able to play for any other MLB team as his current contract runs through the 2019 season.

Now is the perfect time for the Rockies to show their fans and their star player they are committed to having him as the face of the franchise for years to come. The 26-year-old Arenado has said that he is not going to be distracted by any “whispers” of a contract extension and there have been no talks about it yet. It makes sense because there is still time for the Rockies and Arenado to sit down and hammer out a deal.

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However, the Rockies have already shown that they value Arenado’s happiness, bringing back Carlos Gonzalez on a one-year deal after Arenado had discussed how much CarGo was missed in the clubhouse. Was it the only reason that CarGo came back? Of course not. However, seeing Arenado’s reaction to the return of Gonzalez shows just how happy Arenado was to have his teammate back in the clubhouse.

Arenado is happy right now. It’s a perfect time for the Rockies to start talking about what it would take to keep him happy at the hot corner in Denver for years to come.

And what would that take? Judging by other contracts and what has happened with Josh Donaldson and Kris Bryant in the offseason, Rox Pile’s Noah Yingling estimated in this article that an eight-year, $280 million contract is feasible.

Yes, that’s a long-term and expensive contract. However, Arenado has already shown that he can produce and keeping him around for eight years starting with the 2020 season would ensure that the Rockies would have the All-Star throughout the most important years of his career.

Next: Podcast: The pros and cons of re-signing CarGo

Other teams will try to entice Arenado with big deals. The All-Star third baseman has never been happier in Denver than he is right now, with CarGo back and the Rockies coming off their first postseason appearance of his career and primed to make another run in 2018. Other All-Stars are getting their just rewards. All of this is forming the perfect storm for the Rockies to start the conversation with Arenado.