Four quotes from the Colorado Rockies first full-team workout

“I’m a little surprised at how much [the story] has gained [attention],” said Arenado on Monday in front of reporters on the concourse at Salt River Field at Talking Stick, “but … I guess we could talk about Bridich for a little bit longer but there comes a point where we’ve gotta stop asking those questions and thinking about the team and focusing on [the team] but at the same time, I get why those [questions] are being asked right now…”

With the whole story and each development of it, there has been one misconception about the entire situation.

Arenado tried clearing it up with his teammates and tried to clear it up with the media.

“I think the whole misconception of this whole offseason is that I don’t believe in the group that we have here,” said Arenado, “and that’s extremely false and that’s kind of what I’ve reiterated to my teammates is that’s not where I’m coming from. I’m coming from a place where I just want to win and be [in the playoffs]. “I think, as a team, when you see things happen or moves happen, it kind of gives you a little confidence–a little bit of energy–and it feels really good. That’s kind of where I was coming from but I definitely believe in the guys that we have here. Some guys had some tough years last year but that doesn’t mean that they can’t come back this year and do something special. I believe they will and I’m going to try to help them as much as I can.”

This misconception partially is a bit of a departure from Arenado’s previous comments, even as recently as last week, to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, when he said that he’s “optimistic for the season” but he added “I have to be.” He added that “…if we put things together and compete?…[Y]ou never know.”

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Among other people that spoke with the media on Monday, Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon spoke with the media for an extended period of time (about ten minutes).

He spoke about a vast array of different topics but one of which was the idea that the Rockies have a “fun problem.”

“I think we certainly have the focus and the grinder mentality–I think our guys are working very hard–[but] I do think it’s important to remember that you’re playing a game and [baseball] is supposed to be fun,” said Blackmon. “You’ve gotta stay loose and relaxed and that’s how you’re going to get the most out of our players so I think there is a balance and I think that we have the personnel to bring both sides of that coin. I think that we do a good job of [doing] the hard part, which is the focus and the hard work … but a lot of times, humor can help keep things light.”

That will hopefully be one of the things that the Rockies learn from in their disastrous 2019 campaign and they can make a change heading into 2020.

Even though they are, essentially, the same team they were in 2019, Bud Black says that they aren’t the same team because it’s a different year.

“You know,” said Black, “I just told the guys–I’m not going to tell you everything–[that] this team is not last year’s team. A lot of the names are the same but this is not last year’s team.” “As you guys know–and I say this all the time–do we know what’s going to happen in 2020? No way. That’s why we play and our guys are excited about that, that a new year is here and I told them, ‘it starts today’–the 2020 campaign and we’ll see how it plays out … the composite picture is always at the end [of the season].”

Thankfully, we will not have another weekend without baseball until November so for Rockies fans, they are hoping that the page will be turned from an awful season and offseason ASAP.

All of these quotes are via video from the Rockies PR team.