While Nolan Arenado answered questions about the historic tradition of the St. Louis Cardinals, playing rivalry games at Wrigley Field and life in an eternal playoff candidate, Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort was being asked whether he thought about whether fire.
Yes, the five-time All-Star winner and eight-time Gold Glove trade is doing much better in St. Louis than in Denver. Even Monfort looked sad because the franchise finally agreed to give in to Arenado’s desire and negotiated him for the franchise that recruited him in 2009.
“I’m a fan. I really am,” said Monfort. “I understand how they feel. To be quite honest, I would probably feel the same way. I even feel the same way. When we signed with Nolan, it was an attempt to keep him for the rest of his career. things have changed. “
The Rockies never won a division title with Arenado, but they made it to the playoffs in 2017 and 2018 as a wild card (losing a tiebreaker game to the Dodgers for the NL West title in 2018). They went 71-91 in 2019, however, and Monfort said the club tried to switch Arenado after that season, when he asked for a switch for the first time.
The Rockies then went 26-34 in the 2020 shortened COVID season, and they discussed several trade possibilities, finally closing the St. Louis deal that brought launcher Austin Gomber and four minor leagues, with some money – perhaps as much as $ 51 million – also going to St. Louis to help pay for the remaining six years of the Arenado contract.
Arenado may still cancel after 2021.
General manager Jeff Bridich played down the idea that the Rocky Mountains are now starting over.
“There are levels and variations in the reconstruction process, but it is certainly not a total disassembly and reconstruction as certain teams have chosen to do,” he said. “I think that if that were the case, some players would already have been dealt.”
One such player would be Trevor Story, twice the All-Star interbase, which is eligible for free agency after the 2021 season. Story has been tied for seventh – with Arenado – in WAR among position players since 2018. Bridich said he hopes let Story open the season with the Rockies, while adding that it is difficult to predict what will happen this season.
“His situation is different from Nolan’s, as it is with the rest of our players,” said Bridich. “Certainly, we appreciate having Trevor as a shortstop. It is very difficult to predict what the next months will be like, in terms of timing, in terms of this season in general … but we don’t know what the pandemic is and what the virus will do and how the things will work. “
For now, the Rockies are acting as if they could still fight for a playoff spot in 2021, even without Arenado and without receiving impact players in return or making any other significant off-season moves.
“We have an extremely talented team,” said Monfort. “They are made to compete. It is time to take the next step.”
After two bad seasons, the numbers don’t really confirm that assessment. The Rockies were only eighth in the NL in races in 2020 – after finishing in the top three in all seasons between 2009 and 2018. They allowed for the most races in the league. Still, Monfort believes the team is in a position to fight in 2021.
“My biggest belief is that we built the pitch and we did it internally. We have a lot of talented pitchers … Jeff did a good job of getting young arms and not having to go out into the free agency market. I think pitch is really a core that we’ve never had in our history. “
German Marquez is one of the most underrated beginners in the top. Kyle Freeland finished fourth in the Cy Young poll in 2018 and recovered with a solid 2020 after fighting in 2019. Jon Gray showed top spin potential, but had some injuries and struggled with an ERA of 6.69 in 2020 .
Thus, the Rockies will move on, without the franchise player, and fans will wonder what will happen to Story.
As for saying goodbye – or Bridich – Monfort replied: “I thought about saying goodbye, but I didn’t think about saying Jeff.”