What will Arenado do?
Q : Does Nolan Arenado want to win bad enough to forgo the money on his contract and opt out knowing his next deal ( with presumably a winning team) would be significantly less?
— Marcus Farrell, Denver
Patrick: Marcus, that’s the six- year,
$ 199 million question. That’s what’s left on Arenado’s eight- year, $ 260 million deal. As much as Arenado wants to play for a winner — and make no mistake, he desperately wants that — I don’t think he will opt out.
There are three main reasons.
One, that’s a huge amount of money for Arenado to give up, and you’re right, given baseball’s current financial environment, he’s unlikely to land another deal as lucrative as his current one.
Two, Arenado could still hope that the Rockies trade him once baseball returns to “normal.” Keep in mind that he has a full no- trade clause in his contract, so he could, theoretically, help steer the deal.
Three, Arenado’s baseball brethren would not look kindly on him turning down huge money. You have to keep in mind that the MLB Players Association is an important part of the equation. The players are a fraternity and when a player signs a megadeal it helps the rest of the players. As Arenado debated signing the contract, he was in frequent contact with the MLBPA. The union’s input matters to him.
Players have opted out of big contracts before, but usually only for more money or a longer deal. Think of Alex Rodriguez’s deal with the Yankees. In December, 2007, A- Rod agreed to a 10- year, $ 275 million contract with the Yankees, a deal that only came about after he opted out of the final three years of his original 10year, $ 252 million contract he signed with the Texas Rangers.
Q : Do you see the Rockies getting a competent second baseman since they already have Josh Fuentes, Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado? Also, do you see them getting another starter in the rotation with the inconsistencies that they have had?
— Gabriel Guerrero, Fort Lupton
Patrick: Gabriel, I think the Rockies already have a “competent” second baseman in Ryan McMahon.
I still believe he has a ton of talent and I like his range and athleticism. Does he need to be more consistent? Yes. In 2020, McMahon committed seven errors over 248 innings for a .947 fielding percentage. In 2019, he committed 13 errors over 860 innings for a .972 fielding percentage.
McMahon also regressed at the plate. In 2019, he hit .250 with a .779 OPS while striking out 29.7% of the time. In 2020, McMahon hit .215 with a .714 OPS with a 34.2 strikeout percentage. He needs to rebound, but I think he will.
As for your question regarding a starting pitcher, I don’t think the Rockies will
look outside the organization to add another starter. They are hoping that righthander Ryan Castellani will take a big step forward. The same goes for Chi Chi Gonzalez. And there is a chance that lefthander Ryan Rolison will make his debut and be part of the 2021 rotation.
Rolison has yet to pitch above high- A Lancaster, but he pitched in college and has a good feel for his stuff.
Q : Patrick, I saw that you talked to
Todd Helton for your story on the Hall of Fame. I’m wondering how he is doing? We don’t hear much about him.
— Trevor, Greeley
Patrick: Trevor, I did talk to Helton about his personal life. That conversation will remain between the two of us. But it’s no secret that he’s had some struggles, including two arrests for DUI, most recently in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2019.
Helton did tell me something -– on the record -– that I found very interesting.
“I thought I was ready to retire and all of that,” he said. “But if I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed in the game right after I retired. I would have stayed with the Rockies as a special assistant. It would have been a better decision. It would have given me some structure.”
Helton said he still has a close relationship with Rockies owner Dick Monfort. However, he said there are no current plans for Helton to rejoin the Rockies organization.