Nolan Arenado Would Rather Lead the Rockies Than Test the Market

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A $260 million contract usually calls for a celebration, but Nolan Arenado preferred to stay in on Tuesday night. He invited over his agent, Joel Wolfe, to watch videos of Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen.

Beltre and Rolen were premier defenders at third base, All-Stars deep into their 30s. Arenado is almost 28, and the Colorado Rockies are now committed to him through 2026, when he will turn 35. He and Wolfe studied others who aged well, like Jeff Kent, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley — and, just for fun, they admired footage of the most majestic home runs by the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton.

Arenado did not top Stanton’s contract, which is still the high mark for guaranteed money: $325 million over 13 years. But Arenado did establish a record for highest average annual salary by a position player, at $32.5 million across eight seasons. In a bewildering winter for players, that was a priority.

“There is a wave of young players that I don’t think the game has ever seen before that are now in the lower levels of the arbitration system,” Wolfe said, naming Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, Aaron Judge and others. “And guys like Nolan make a difference on what they can earn.”

Arenado had previously agreed to a $26 million salary for 2019, a record for a player eligible for arbitration. His new deal, which includes an opt-out clause after 2021, adds seven years and $234 million and saves him the hassle of free agency — a process that has become excruciatingly slow and, for many players, suspiciously less enriching than it used to be.

“I wasn’t afraid of free agency,” Arenado said. “I didn’t base my decision off that. I based my decision on wanting to be here, and there was an opportunity for that to happen.

“I understand, I see what’s going on, and it’s disappointing because there are so many good baseball players out there; you could probably start a playoff team with the players that are out there right now.

“Obviously it’s in your head,” he said. “You never really know what can happen. But I’m under contract this year no matter what happened, and at the end of the day, my heart was here and I wanted to be here.”

He had good reason to stay put. The Rockies, who have finally put together a dynamic young pitching staff, are coming off consecutive playoff appearances for the first time ever. They have kept other homegrown players on long-term contracts, like outfielder Charlie Blackmon, while bringing in established free agents and drawing well at Coors Field.

Arenado is the leader, the way another single-franchise third baseman, George Brett, was for the Kansas City Royals.

“The characteristics are very similar,” said Rockies Manager Bud Black, who won a World Series with Brett in 1985. “How they play, their performance, the little things — first guy to the ballpark, in most cases the last guy to leave — truly caring about the organization, a burning desire to win. It’s tough to teach those intangibles; it’s about the person. There’s 750 big leaguers out there, and there’s a lot of guys who have those things, but they don’t have the talent as well.”

Few can match Arenado’s talent. He is one of only two players to win six consecutive Gold Gloves while also leading his league in homers at least three times. The other is the Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who said last year that Arenado was his heir apparent as the greatest third baseman ever.

Even so, Arenado does not even have the most lucrative contract among National League West third basemen. Manny Machado signed the richest free-agent deal ever last week, for $300 million over 10 years with the San Diego Padres. That makes two exorbitant deals for mid- to small-market franchises in the same division, even as several prominent free agents remain unsigned.

“That’s some of the best talent in the game,” Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta said, “and we also added veteran players into mix. We added Daniel Murphy, they brought me in, Ian Desmond, Wade Davis. You don’t have to be the Red Sox and the Yankees to tap into that pool and make yourself competitive.”

Dick Monfort, the Rockies’ owner, said that while Colorado must be careful with the length of contracts, “We can operate on an A.A.V. with anybody” — referring to average annual value. In mapping out the team’s next several years, Monfort said, he could not imagine a scenario without Arenado.

“He’s a guy that needs to be a Rockie,” Monfort added.

Arenado’s contract sets another threshold for Bryce Harper to clear in his protracted free agency, which now seems to also be focused on the N.L. West. Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, has met in recent days with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, seeming to support the theory that Harper would rather play in the West than for the Philadelphia Phillies, another suitor.

Wolfe said he had advised Arenado that elite players always do well in free agency, even if it takes a while, but the extension made sense for his client. It stands to reason that Harper is seeking a combination of the Stanton, Machado and Arenado deals — and he probably will find it.

“I hope he gets a tremendous deal,” Wolfe said. “I think it would be great for the players and great for the health of the game.”

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