A tribute by the Rockies for Nolan Arenado is a terrible idea

The perennial All-Star decided that St. Louis was a better place to be than Colorado, a fact that shouldn't be forgotten by the franchise or fans

BY JAMES MERILATT

Jul 1, 2021, 6:00 AM Updated: 6:20 am

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Tonight, Nolan Arenado returns to Coors Field. For the first time since forcing a trade this past offseason, the All-Star third baseman will be back in Colorado.

This time, he won’t be wearing purple pinstripes, however. Arenado ditched the Rockies in favor of the Cardinals.

How will one of the best players in franchise history be greeted upon his return? Well, the organization is going to roll out the red carpet for their former star.

I'm told that the #Rockies will honor #Cardinals Nolan Arenado with a video when he returns to Coors Field tomorrow.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) June 30, 2021

On the surface, this seems like the classy thing to do. It’s taking the high road, being hospitable and letting bygones be bygones.

It’s also a loser’s mentality.

Essentially, Arenado told the Rockies that he was too good for them. Despite the franchise signing him to an eight-year, $260-million contract, he needed to be surrounded by better people.

This is an insult to ownership, the front office, his teammates and the coaching staff. It’s a slap in the face to everyone who gets a paycheck signed by Dick Monfort.

Revisionists will spin the story to make Arenado look like the victim. They’ll talk about how bad the Rockies have been throughout their existence and lament the fact that a perennial All-Star had to go elsewhere in order to find success.

That’s poppycock.

In 2017 and ’18, the Rockies reached the playoffs. It was the first time in the history of the franchise that they made back-to-back postseason appearances.

Then, they signed Arenado to his mega-deal. It quickly began to unravel.

Colorado didn’t just spend on their third baseman. They also shelled out the money to build the most-expensive bullpen in the history of Major League Baseball. They inked free-agents Ian Desmond and Daniel Murphy. And they kept Charlie Blackmon in a Rockies uniform.

They spent money. In 2019, they had the 11th-highest payroll in baseball.

And the team stunk. After a good start, they went 6-19 in July, 9-19 in August and 12-13 in September to finish 71-91, well out of the race for the NL West or a wild-card spot.

Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw didn’t live up to their contracts. Neither did Desmond or Murphy. The moves, while well intended, just didn’t work.

How did the Rockies best player react? How did their highest-paid star deal with the one-year setback?

He took his ball and went home. Arenado wanted to bail.

It was a ridiculous request. After all, it’s not as though the team wasn’t trying to win. And it’s not as if he’d endured countless bad seasons in a row.

It was one down year. It was two bad months. It was a perfect storm of high-paid players have the worst years of their careers.

But Arenado didn’t care. He chucked his teammates under the bus and wanted to head off to greener pastures.

After mailing it in during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when Arenado batted .253 after refusing to work out with his teammates in the offseason, he finally got his wish. Colorado traded him to St. Louis for a bucket of balls, two tickets to the top of the arch and some Big League Chew.

Five months later, that guy is going to be celebrated at Coors Field? The organization is going to pay tribute to him?

That’s pathetic. The Rockies need to have a little pride.

Years from now, when Arenado has retired, it’ll be fine to honor the third baseman. Colorado can retire his No. 28, play a video of his highlights and everyone can remember the good years.

But right now? The Rockies, and their fans, are the franchise scorned.

The crowd should boo Arenado loudly. Antonio Senzatela should plunk him in the ribs during the third baseman’s first at-bat.

Instead, the team and its fans are going to act like doormats. They’re going to accept being treated poorly. Heck, they’re going to thank Arenado for treating them poorly.

That’s just unacceptable. That’s just not right.

On Thursday night, Nolan Arenado is the opponent. And he’s in that role because he chose to be there.

He should be greeted accordingly.