Together Again: Rockies Will See Arenado From the Other Side of the Field Friday Night

After making post-season appearances for the first time in franchise history in 2017 and 2018, and with a solid young core, the Colorado Rockies had ambitions of being a post-season factor in coming years, underscored by the decision to sign Nolan Arenado to an eight-year, $260 million contract to avoid the possibility he could become a free agent after 2019.

And in the first half of 2019, the anticipation grew. The Rockies found themselves tied with the Phillies for the second NL Wild-Card slot, a game behind the Cubs, who were in position for the first Wild-Card.

But then. …

The Rockies lost 15 of their first 18 games in July, and by month’s end they found themselves with a 50-59 record, not only in last place in the NL West, but behind nine other teams in the race for the second NL Wild-Card berth in the post-season. In that month of disappointment, Arenado (.217), Trevor Story (.227) and Charlie Blackmon (.256), the big three in the lineup, combined to hit .244, strike out 64 times and drive in 32 runs.

And then. …

Arenado had a sit-down with former general manager Jeff Bridich, in which he was told the Rockies did not have the budget to make an off-season splash, and publicly announced he had been disrespected by team management, and wanted to be traded. To underscore his displeasure, instead of his normal early arrival to spring training, Arenado opted to work out with his brother at Arizona State University until he was required to report.

By the end of last year’s COVID-adjusted season, the sentiment was even stronger, which led to the Rockies finally meeting his trade demands, and settling for a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, which Arenado had to approve in light of the no-trade clause he had received in that eight-year deal.

The memories of Arenado’s nearly seven seasons in Colorado are filled with bright moments of watching the acrobatic third baseman field, throw and hit on a level few can attain. Fans have been vocal in their disgust at management.

But what seems so frequently overlooked in the media is that the Rockies did not want to trade Arenado. He let it be known he wanted the trade after both the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and the Rockies eventually consented.

“I made the decision to hopefully go to a competitive team,” Arenado said. “A team that has a great tradition, and I believe St. Louis has that.”

The Cardinals do have a championship pedigree. Their 11 world championships rank second all time to the Yankees (27). They, however, have not won a World Series since 2011, two years before Arenado’s big-league debut, and haven’t been to a World Series since 2013, the year Arenado debuted in Colorado.

If they advance — and win — this year it would fill a desire for both the Cardinals and Arenado.

When it came time to deal Arenado, it wasn’t like the were able to put him on auction and send him to the highest bidder, either. Given a complete no-trade clause, Arenado had control over his destination, which became the Cardinals.

And the Rockies are obligated to picking up as much as $51 million of the remaining $199 million on the contract Arenado signed with the Rockies, but it is spread out over five years:

$14,429,500 in 2021

$5,570,500 in 2022 (a year Arenado could opt out)

$21 million in 2023

$5 million in 2024

$5 million in 2025

After starting on Opening Day this year for St. Louis, pitcher Adam Wainwright gave every indication that Arenado had his sights set on St. Louis long before a trade was ever planned.

“The last year or two, (Arenado) would send me videos when he was trying to get traded over here,” Wainwright told St. Louis media following the game on Opening Day. “He would say, ‘Hey, show this to Mo (John Mozeliak, Cardinals general manager). And he would be, in the middle of the offseason, taking ground balls down the third-base line and doing his little jump throw from almost the dugout, making a perfect throw, one after another after another.”

That, however, is now history. Friday night, Arenado and the Rockies reunite for the first time since the trade, Colorado opening a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

There are no hard feelings within the clubhouse. Arenado remains close to former teammates. And they will enjoy exchanging pregame greetings.

Friendship, however, will be pushed aside when the first pitch is thrown.

Blackmon said he is looking forward to seeing Arenado. He said conversations have been limited since the season started because both players are focused on their daily challenges.

“If the TV is on (showing a Cardinals game),” I will pay attention to what he does,” said Charlie Blackmon. “I hope he’s healthy and things are going well for him, but ultimately, I want the Rockies to beat the Cardinals.”

.It will seem a bit odd. But it won’t be unique.

“I have experienced it before,” said Rockies manager Bud Black. “As a player, I was traded from Kansas City to Cleveland after seven years with Kansas City. When we played each other, I was facing George Brett, Willie Wilson, Frank White, and those guys. It was a weird feeling. It was the same thing when I was a coach and the same when I was manager. I’m conditioned to this.”

And to think, in the Rockies first reunion with Arenado, the starting pitcher is scheduled to be Austin Gomber — the key part of the five-player package the Rockies received from the Cardinals in exchange for Arenado.