The 12 blunders that severed the Arenado-Rockies relationship

Most of the time, it’s not one thing that ends a relationship. Usually, a single misstep can be overlooked, forgotten, ignored or forgiven.

But a series of blunders, however, are another matter. That’s when things become strained. That’s what leads to irreconcilable differences.

Such is the case with the Rockies and Nolan Arenado. It wasn’t one thing that led to the breakup between the five-time All-Star and the organization. It was a series of them.

When it first became known that there was a strain between the two sides, most people thought it had to do with the Rockies not spending money prior to the 2020 season. After going 71-91 the season before, conventional wisdom suggested that Arenado balked when Colorado kept the entire band together.

That didn’t make sense, however. After all, the Rockies sported the 11th-highest payroll in baseball in 2019, so they couldn’t be accused of being cheap. And they had made the postseason in ’17 and ’18, so there was reason to believe that the down year was the aberration.

It seemed odd that Arenado couldn’t see that fact. It seemed weird that Jeff Bridich that scenario, and suggest that things would be different if 2020 was another bad year, once big contracts came off the books.

In reality, the problem went much deeper than that. A piece by Tom Verducci on SI.com outlines the trade of Arenado to the Cardinals. It included this explanation as to why the third baseman had lost faith in the organization:

“Since Arenado made his first All-Star team in 2015, the Rockies have spent $281.6 million on 12 free agents. Virtually all of their decisions have been disasters. From breakout hitters without a position (Daniel Murphy, Ian Desmond) to veteran relievers on their way down (Wade Davis, Jake McGee, Bryan Shaw, Mike Dunn, Jason Motte, Chad Qualls) the Rockies have missed on all 12 free agents with the possible exception of a one-year, $2.6 million deal for Mark Reynolds, who was O.K.”

Yikes.

It’s not that the Rockies didn’t spend money. It’s that they didn’t spend it wisely.

That’s problem No. 1. The fact that the person who made those decisions, Bridich, is still in charge is hard to imagine.

He took over as GM after the 2014 season. His moves since then have been abysmal. Here’s a recap of his free-agent signings:

2015 OFFSEASON
Daniel Descalso
Nick Hundley
Kyle Kendrick

2016 OFFSEASON
Jason Motte
Chad Qualls
Mark Reynolds
Gerardo Parra
Ryan Raburn

2017 OFFSEASON
Ian Desmond
Mike Dunn
Alexi Amarista
Greg Holland
Ryan Hanigan

2018 OFFSEASON
Chris Iannetta
Bryan Shaw
Wade Davis

2019 OFFSEASON
Daniel Murphy

In addition to the eight players Verducci listed by name, the dozen misses probably included Hundley, Kendrick, Parra and Holland. That’s a lot of blunders, especially among the big-ticket items. Reynolds had some moments. Hollard was good during the team’s 2017 run to the playoffs. But the rest, largely, were total misses.

As a result, the relationship between the Rockies and Nolan Arenado couldn’t be repaired. Even if the team promised to spend more money in the future, they were letting someone continue to make decisions about how to invest that cash who had proven incapable of doing it well.

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