Colorado Rockies should do everything possible to lock up Nolan Arenado

From the view of the mountains, the purple Mile-High row, and the massive video board, the home of the Colorado Rockies, Coors Field, sets the bar high for the rest of the league.

Between the lines, the Colorado Rockies have a few players who are as iconic as the sights and sounds around Coors Field. Charlie Blackmon is one of those players. The other is Nolan Arenado.

Blackmon is already signed with the Rockies for life. Arenado should be, too.

For the past four years, Arenado has been one of the best players in the MLB. He is atop several leaderboards, especially relating to his defensive wizardry at third base.

The Silver and Gold Club

And, his top skills aren’t just limited to defense. He has six Gold Glove Awards (he’s been in the MLB for six seasons) and four Silver Slugger Awards in four consecutive seasons since 2015. This puts him in an elite group of players called the Gold and Silver Club and his four consecutive wins makes him even more elite.

Other players with four or more consecutive dual Gold and Silver wins include Dave Winfield, Kirby Puckett, Ryne Sandberg, Ivan Rodriguez, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Barry Bonds. But, no player has won four consecutive Gold and Silver awards since Griffey won his last one in 1998.

Arenado is just too good to let another team get him.

If the Gold and Silver Club is proof, Arenado is something special.

Unbelievably consistent numbers in four straight seasons

He will be 28 in April, still in the prime of his baseball years. From 2015-2018, he has been the picture of consistency. His slash in these four All-Star seasons is .297/.358/.573. He’s had 158 home runs and 503 RBI. IN FOUR SEASONS! He has played between 156 and 160 games in each of these four seasons.

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Where else would the Rockies or any other team find a player like Arenado?

Yes, his splits at home are significantly better than his away splits. It could be the “Coors Field advantage”, but it could also be that he is just more comfortable at home. At home in 2018, Arenado hit .347/.424/.681. That in itself should give the Rockies reason to sign him. To show how much better players are at home, Mookie Betts hit .364/.461/.657 in his games at Fenway in 2019. It’s probably not the Mile-High air that’s helping Arenado. He’s just that good.

Setting an arbitration-salary record

He’s so good that the Rockies decided to give him the highest arbitration contract in the history of the game: $26 million. Prior to this one-year contract, the honor belonged to Bryce Harper, who was paid $21.6 million in 2018, but he was quickly knocked out of first by Josh Donaldson who was paid $23 million in 2018 by the Blue Jays.

Thomas Harding of MLB.com shared news about how the Rockies are working on a long-term agreement with the future Hall of Famer (yes, I’m going there already). Dick Monofort – Rockies owner, CEO, and chairman – told Harding:

“I think we’ve gotten it to the point where we’re to the finals. We’re to the crescendo.”

The only better news would be the announcement that the Colorado Rockies have signed him for the next 10 years.

Giving up a player like Arenado would be one of the stupidest moves a team could make. He does nothing but help the Colorado Rockies win and bring fans to the ballpark. And, he does it all while playing the game the right way.