The Rockies are going to get Nolan Arenado signed to a contract Extension

It’s the first post of 2018 – and it’s about the Colorado Rockies – who would have thunk it. That said, it’s something that is definitely worthy of our attention, and something we’ve been fishing around for dating back about a year.

Notice there’s been little to no word about the Colorado Rockies extending their best all-around player, Nolan Arenado. Maybe you didn’t even notice. Arenado is slated to be under contract this coming season and in 2019 before hitting the free agent market. Except, now there are talks that it might not happen at all.

With young starting pitching and a bullpen fortified for the next three years, a natural question will be whether to focus on locking up Arenado, one of the game’s top stars, before he becomes eligible for free agency after the 2019 season.

“There definitely are conversations that will happen with Nolan,” Bridich said. “That’s a natural part of where he’s at in his career and where we’re at as an organization, and the relationships that have been built over a long period of time now between Nolan and the organization.

“It’s not like there’s a specific time clock on it. But for right now we’re focused — as is Nolan — on getting ready for Spring Training. We’ll figure that stuff out.”

Well that sounds pretty good. According to Colorado’s GM Jeffrey Bridich; Arenado seems pretty at home in the Rocky Mountains. He’s just one of those guys who is a joy to watch put up huge numbers and play as good of defense as anyone in the game. We’ve always been a group who likes to see teams keep their homegrown stars here at Diamond Hoggers. The thought of Arenado in another uniform makes us completely ill. He should be in Rockies purple until his playing career ends and continue to put up eye-popping numbers.

Arenado is going to be a player we feature a lot on this blog in 2018, and should any new developments break regarding an extension we will be one of the first to react to it.

In his career, he’s put up 148 career home runs, a .875% OPS, and a 16.1 fWAR. And there’s mention of him next to another Mile High legend:

Arenado can become the John Elway of the Rockies; a nearly mythical figure forever revered in Denver sports history, if he could help deliver what Rockies fans have dreamed of ground broke at 20th and Blake in 1992 — a World Series championship. The Rockies are tantalizingly close. If Arenado stays long term, it could become a reality.

Make it happen, Rockies! Give us a reason to write about you more than four to five times in a season!