Colorado Rockies missing the playoffs could prove twice as costly

You’ve imagined a Colorado Rockies team without Nolan Arenado way too many times already.

You’ve thought about what kind of trade package you’d want the Colorado Rockies to get back for him should they decide to move him in either the offseason or at the deadline next year. You’ve thought about how much it would hurt if he just opted out and the Rockies weren’t able to get anything in return for him. You know that opt out is at the end of next season and you know the Rockies need to do everything they can to appease him so that he chooses to stay.

You’ve probably already seen the quote from Arenado on Tuesday about making this season’s playoffs to prove the Rockies are on the right track. “Eight teams make the playoffs and if we’re not one of those teams, that’s not a very good sign.” And he’s right.

Making the playoffs is critical to showing Arenado that the Rockies should be the team he stays with past 2021. But it’s also critical for another key piece to Colorado’s success. One who’s been certainly more valuable than Arenado in 2020 and arguably in 2019 … Trevor Story.

That two-year, $27.5 million contract he received after arbitration? Yup … it’s up at the end of 2021, timed just perfectly with Arenado’s opt out.

Have you imagined what it’d be like to not just lose Arenado to another team, but also Story? Because that is a very real possibility if the Rockies miss the playoffs this season.