How Nolan Arenado and the Colorado Rockies reached this critical moment

Let’s flash all the way back to 2018, a year when the Rockies were on their way to their second consecutive postseason appearance. Still, there seemed to be a bit of uneasiness coming from Arenado.

Nick Groke’s article and words from Arenado on June 28 paint the picture of a player who, in Arenado’s words, is “pissed” at his situation … and Colorado’s losing ways at that moment (a team that was under .500 and in fourth place in the National League West).

“I just get pissed because I don’t want to lose anymore,” Arenado said in that article. “I’ve only been to the playoffs once and it was only one game. And I really want more than that.”

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Certainly we know, looking back, that the Rockies would win the Wild Card over the Cubs at the end of that season before being swept out of the NLDS by the Milwaukee Brewers. Arenado and the Rockies would get more time in the playoffs, but it would be short-lived.

There has also been plenty of talk about how Colorado’s lack of activity at the trade deadline that year may have cost the team the chance to win its first-ever National League West crown. Reliever Seunghwan Oh came over from Toronto in a deal and Matt Holliday was added to the roster in August. Other than that, the Rockies were silent when a few more moves with a “win now” mentality might have secured the division for Colorado. It was noticed by the players in the clubhouse and has been rumored to be a sticking point long after the Rockies were forced to head to Los Angeles for Game 163 to decide the division. A game, by the way, Colorado lost, forcing them to a marathon of back-to-back travel from Denver (last game of the regular season) to L.A. (Game 163) to Chicago (Wild Card) to Milwaukee (NLDS).

But let’s flash back to Groke’s article and the days after that. I caught up with Arenado inside the Colorado clubhouse for this interview shortly after the team returned from the road trip. Reading back on the article now, one of Arenado’s quotes jumps out.

“I want the fans to know that I care,” Arenado told me about the words that came out in Groke’s article and the USA Today interview shortly thereafter. “I don’t want the fans to ever think I’m just here for the money or that I’m just happy to be here. I want to bring a championship. I want to win. I want to play in October. I want to have the fans here. We feed off them. I want them to know that.”

Arenado wants to win. Arenado wants to be put in a position to win. If he doesn’t feel like that opportunity is there, he’s “pissed” as any competitor would be. It’s that simple. It’s also a feeling that will carry over into 2019.

Colorado isn’t able to continue its postseason streak in 2019, falling to 71-91 on the season. Arenado spends the final two days of the season on the bench after pain in his side and back keeps him out of the lineup. He watches as the Rockies finish off a sweep the Brewers to end the season on a high note.

In his final interview of the season after the final Sunday game of the season, Arenado makes his point clear with reporters, including me, about what he has seen during the disappointing 2019 campaign.

“From the outside looking in, it looks like there’s a lot of things that need changed,” Arenado said. “But in here, we feel like we have good players — but at the same time, we did finish pretty far away [from the playoffs] so I think it shows that we need to get better.”

Part of “getting better” includes what Saunders says in this article was Arenado’s desire to see the Rockies improve their roster in the offseason. Arenado had reportedly felt like promises had been broken (according to the sources quoted by Saunders) after the third baseman had signed an eight-year, $260 million deal in February. Roster improvement didn’t happen as the biggest signing of the offseason (Daniel Murphy) battled an injury and DJ LeMahieu shined in New York after the Rockies didn’t re-sign him.

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Shortly after Arenado talked with us at the end of September, Rockies owner Dick Monfort said point blank to media members, “I don’t think we have a lot of flexibility next year of making some great big splash.” The rules for the offseason were set and a season of relative inactivity was just beginning. As of this writing, the Rockies were the only MLB team to have not signed a single player in the offseason to a full Major League contract.

When it comes to the offseason, there hasn’t been a big splash or even a splash at all. The water has barely rippled … and Arenado has noticed.

For a brief time on Tuesday night, Rockies fans had joy in their hearts as Larry Walker was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first player to wear the purple pinstripes to gain admission into the Hall.

That joy will still be there on Wednesday morning … but Rockies fans will also be wondering what the next chapter of the Arenado-Bridich feud might bring as well as what it will mean for the near-term and far-term future of the franchise.

On the same day that Monfort told reporters the Rockies wouldn’t be making some big splash, he was also asked about the opt-out clause in Arenado’s contract that could have him leaving the Rockies after the 2021 season. Part of his response was this:

“If there’s a list of issues that we need to deal with, that is like No. 775 on the page,” Monfort said. “So I don’t think any of us are really worried about it at this time.”

Colorado Rockies

Since that day, the specter of Arenado leaving has crept up 774 spots on that list. After all, as Saunders quoted a source in his most recent article, “Nolan has become disillusioned with the focus and direction of the team.”

There is still a chance for reconciliation, but it will need to happen swiftly. With Colorado’s Rockies Fest happening Saturday and spring training kicking off within three weeks, there will be plenty of questions asked about the back-and-forth between Arenado and Bridich and plenty of opportunities for this to become a massive distraction for a franchise that (at least internally) believes it is good enough to get back to the postseason in 2020.

Can a truce happen and can a relationship be pieced back together? It will take a lot of work, but, yes, it’s possible. However, it will take more than words. It will take some promises being made, some trust that those promises will happen, and those promises to actually happen. Without any of those three steps being achieved, Arenado’s time in Denver will be short-lived and stressful for all involved.

And let’s remember that it isn’t just Arenado’s relationship with the team in jeopardy here. It is an entire fan base that is enraged with the current situation and how it has reached this point. It’s hard to remember a Rockies season that has neared its start with so much venom built up within its most passionate supporters.

The ball seems to lie in the court of the Rockies front office. It’s very evident from the recent quotes where Arenado stands and where his feelings have come from. The next move from Bridich is one of the most critical decisions in franchise history.