Colorado Rockies: Looking ahead to 3 interesting arbitration cases

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 28: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies hits a home run in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on June 28, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

In a season filled with offseason questions for the Colorado Rockies, there will also be some interesting negotiations worth watching during the arbitration period that will occur after the New Year.

As of right now, according to Spotrac.com, the Colorado Rockies have a team salary of $96.5 million heading into the 2019 season. Of course, that will go up, depending on any free agents who are signed, players who are possibly re-signed and any arbitration salaries that are either agreed upon or awarded to the eligible players.

Worth noting, Charlie Blackmon is on the books for the highest salary next season ($21 million), followed by Wade Davis ($18 million) and Ian Desmond ($15 million). Outside of Gerardo Parra’s club option for $12 million, which many do not expect the Rockies to pick up, those are the only Rockies who are due for base salary paydays of over $10 million next season.

However, that could easily change with arbitration. Eight members of the Colorado Rockies are currently eligible for arbitration, with five of those players entering their first year of the arbitration process. Those eight include Nolan Arenado (fourth year of arbitration), Chad Bettis and Chris Rusin (second year of arbitration for both) and Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray, Scott Oberg, Trevor Story and Tony Wolters (first year of arbitration for all five).

Yes, those eight include Arenado, who will be the most interesting player to watch during the process. MLBTradeRumors.com is projecting Arenado to earn $26.1 million next season through arbitration … but could the Rockies sign him to long-term deal or even trade him in the offseason (maybe to one of these teams)? That will be a question worth watching.

Outside of Arenado, who are the three players who are the most interesting case studies for arbitration and what could happen? Let’s take a look ahead at each of them and what they could potentially earn next season … as well as what they’ve done (or not done) to earn that salary.

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