Nolan Arenado Staying in Colorado

Rumors of Nolan Arenado being traded have been flying around the baseball world. The perennial MVP candidate has spent all 7 seasons in purple and black. His accolades are stunning: 7 time Gold Glove winner, 4 time Silver Slugger, 5 time All Star, and he has finished in the top 8 in MVP voting 6 out of the 7 years in his career

Arenado has made it candid that he is unhappy with the Rockies. Colorado has made it to the postseason only twice during Arenado’s tenure. In 2017, they lost in the Wildcard Game to the Diamondbacks and in 2018 they got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. Colorado has unfortunately failed to build around Arenado. Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon, both who came up from the farm system, are the only support Arenado has. The team failed to sign any big name free agents. Granted, Colorado is not the most desirable destination, but building around Arenado (and not striving for mediocrity) needed to be their top priority.

The main reason the Rockies have not been a true contender in the past few years is their lack of pitching. Colorado was 29th in the MLB and last in the NL in team ERA at 5.56. Additionally, they were last in batting average against and gave up almost 900 runs throughout the year. That being said, no pitcher wants to pitch in Colorado. The altitude causes inflation in stats, as shown above. Regardless, there are no excuses why the Rockies should not be contenders. 

The Colorado front office has two clear-cut decisions: trade Arenado and build for the future or keep Arenado, but continue to build around him. If I were the Rockies, I would choose the latter. Arenado’s stats are eye-popping and he will likely be in Cooperstown one day. He is truly a “once in a generation” type of player. The Rockies should stick with him. However, if they feel they cannot build around him, TRADE HIM. His career is being wasted.