How the 2019 offseason killed the Colorado Rockies-Nolan Arenado relationship

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies reacts to a strike out during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on September 24, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies reacts to a strike out during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on September 24, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
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Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies
Aug 25, 2020; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Anything that happened (or didn’t, for that matter) in the offseason following 2019 ties back to the end of the 2018 Colorado Rockies campaign.

The Rockies forced the Los Angeles Dodgers into Game 163 to decide the National League West title, with both teams finishing at 91-71.

On October 1, 2018, at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles recorded a 5-2 win, halting the Rockies from winning their first-ever division title and sending the Rockies to Chicago for the National League Wild Card game to meet the Cubs the next night.

Colorado would win that game and earn an NLDS date with Milwaukee. However, the Brewers swept the Rockies, ending the 2018 season … but hope was high that, with Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon anchoring the offense and a young rotation progressing, Colorado could possibly knock the Dodgers off their perennial NL West pedestal.

Part of that hope came when the Rockies inked Arenado to a massive deal, a contract that would hopefully keep him in Colorado for years to come. However, part of that deal was the assurance that the Rockies would continue to build around Arenado in a quest to keep their upward trajectory going.