Arenado opts for eight-year extension
Rockies star won’t test market after signing record deal
Even as this winter’s tumultuous MLB free agent market careens toward its big-bang ending, the market for next off-season was jolted Tuesday when third baseman Nolan Arenado, its theoretical top prize, instead agreed to a record-setting, eight-year, Us$260-million extension to remain with the Colorado Rockies.
Arenado, 27, will now be the highest paid position player in the game — at least until current free agent Bryce Harper signs — with an average annual value of $32.5 million, just ahead of the $31 million the Detroit Tigers will pay designated hitter Miguel Cabrera, and behind the top earner in the sport, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke, at $34.4 million.
The contract is the fourth-largest overall in baseball history, eclipsed only by Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year, $325-million extension with the Miami Marlins in 2014, Manny Machado’s 10-year, $300-million free agent deal with the San Diego Padres last week and Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275-million deal with the New York Yankees in 2007.
With Arenado now off the market — his deal contains both a notrade clause and an opt-out that could allow him to become a free agent after the 2021 season — that leaves Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon, at least for now, as the top position player on the 2019-20 free-agent market.
Others slated to be free agents next winter include Houston Astros pitchers Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Some of those names, including Rendon, could also come off the market in the coming months by signing extensions with their current teams. Many in the industry expect the Nationals to quickly pursue a long-term deal with Rendon if and when Harper signs elsewhere, and Rendon has said he’s open to those discussions, even after the regular season begins. Since 2014, his first full bigleague season, Rendon ranks sixth among big-league position players in wins above replacement (per Fangraphs), behind only Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, Josh Donaldson and Goldschmidt, and five spots ahead of Arenado.
Arenado is one of the best allaround players in baseball, a fourtime all-star and six-time Gold Glove winner who is the face of a Rockies franchise that has earned a wild-card playoff berth in each of the past two seasons. Many in the industry have been expecting a long-term deal since he and the Rockies settled his arbitration case last month with an agreement on a $26-million salary for 2019, a record for an arbitration-eligible player.
Arenado may have been prompted to re-sign with the Rockies in part by the recent trajectory and uncertain future of free agency in baseball, the source of much of the recent animosity between players and owners.
While Machado got the largest free-agent contract in baseball history last week, Harper is among the players still seeking a home, with the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants believed to be still in pursuit.