A huge hole to fill
Arenado’s pending trade leaves Rockies with a lot of questions
News of a pending trade that will send star third baseman Nolan Arenado to St. Louis hit Rockies fans hard.
The Twittersphere lit up with the fans’ shock, anger and disbelief late Friday as word spread that one of the best players in franchise history — a player in his prime at age 29 — could soon be wearing Cardinals red.
Saturday dawned with multiple questions, about the trade itself, as well as what Arenado’s departure would mean for the Rockies’ future.
To begin with, the complex deal is not yet complete and might take several days to finalize. According to sources close to the negotiations, the deal requires significant changes to Arenado’s contract, including an additional year guaranteed at $15 million and an additional opt-out clause following the 2022 season. According to multiple reports, the Rockies will give the Cardinals approximately $50 million to provide salary relief, enabling the Cardinals to pick up the six years and $199 million remaining on Arenado’s contract.
The trade is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball, and because Arenado is expected to defer money and make changes to the structure of his contract, the MLB Players Association also must approve it.
By trading Arenado, the Rockies are, essentially, saving nearly $150 million over the next six years. They will also receive players in return, but no big names. Nothing is official, but multiple media reports suggest that left-hander
Austin Gomber (who’s been used as both a starter and a reliever), first baseman Luken Baker and outfielder Jhon Torres are the most likely candidates to come to Colorado.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort and general manager Jeff Bridich have both said that the club is on a tight budget for 2021. When Colorado decided to nontender talented but oft-injured outfielder David Dahl in December, Bridich spelled out the club’s financial situation.
“It’s fluid right now, but we know that it’s not the same,” Bridich said when asked if the club’s 2021 payroll would shrink in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a 2020 season limited to 60 games with reduced revenue. “We are not going to be having the same sort of growthminded outlook that we’ve had with the payroll over the last number of years. We have some business decisions to make and we will have to continue to make those, most likely.”
Bridich and Monfort are expected to meet with the media once the trade becomes official.
It was less than two years ago that Arenado signed an eight-year, $260 million contract with Bridich and Monfort by his side, but now he’s on the verge of helping turn the Cardinals into a National League Central powerhouse.
There has been speculation that by jettisoning Arenado’s massive contract, money could be found to sign star shortstop Trevor Story to a long-term deal. That’s not necessarily the case. Story, 28, is scheduled to become a free agent after this season. He’s making $18.5 million this year, but if the Rockies aren’t competitive, or if Story doesn’t appear interested in staying in Colorado, he also could be traded.
The loss of Arenado would leave a huge hole in Colorado’s lineup. Since 2015, Arenado leads all third basemen in games played (835), hits (952), home runs (207) and OPS (.926). His 33.0 Wins Above Replacement over the past six seasons ranks third in the majors, behind only Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. Arenado has already established himself as one of the greatest third basemen in history, having won eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards to begin his career. He also has four consecutive Platinum Gloves, emblematic of the best defensive player in the National League.
Ryan McMahon, who’s been Colorado’s starting second baseman the past two seasons, will likely move over to replace Arenado at third, with Brendan Rodgers getting a chance to prove himself as an everyday player at second.