Colorado Rockies Quick Hits: Blackmon on Arenado, Oberg deal and more

Hey, we know your time is valuable. With that in mind, here are some quick overviews of the latest news and notes involving the Colorado Rockies.

There is much talk already about Nolan Arenado and if the Colorado Rockies will be able to keep him past the 2019 season. One of the things we discussed in an earlier article is what kind of pressure hearing about Arenado’s upcoming free agency day after day may put on the All-Star third baseman and the club as the season goes along.

Well, Charlie Blackmon has proclaimed that he doesn’t think the rumors and speculation surrounding Arenado will be a distraction for the Rockies this season as they pursue their third consecutive postseason berth. Check out this clip of Chuck Nazty talking about it yesterday on MLB Network Radio.

Of course, Arenado will go through his final arbitration talks with the Rockies very soon and he is expected to break an arbitration record with an estimated haul of more than $26 million. One player who won’t be making that much this season (or even facing arbitration) is Colorado reliever Scott Oberg, who avoided arbitration and reportedly signed for $1.3 million.

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The 28-year-old right-hander went 8-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 56 appearances for the Rockies last season. That includes a 1.72 ERA in 14 September appearances where batters hit just .096 against Oberg and he struck out 22 while walking just two.

Oberg was a success story in the Colorado bullpen last season and it’s been a long and winding road for him to reach that success, as our Jake Shapiro wrote in this article. He will need to find that same kind of success this season as he likely helps Colorado fill the void that will be left by the departure of Adam Ottavino.

Speaking of departures, DJ LeMahieu is likely not back with the Rockies in 2019. He has been linked to the San Francisco Giants in yesterday’s news and notes and now the talk about the Los Angeles Dodgers and LeMahieu seems to be heating up. Could LeMahieu stay in the National League West and land with one of Colorado’s rivals? It certainly looks possible.

Finally, Coors Field always has great baseball and has also had great concerts in recent years. The Zac Brown Band, Journey and Def Leppard have played at 20th and Blake … and now Billy Joel will bring his plethora of hits to Coors Field for an August 8 show. From what we understand, he still didn’t start the fire.