Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic pulls back the curtain on the Rockies’ extension with Nolan Arenado, providing detail on the timing, structure and actual content of some of the meetings held between Arenado’s camp and organizational decision-makers (subscription required). While the two sides had hoped to avoid arbitration prior to exchanging figures on filing day, that didn’t come to pass, and at one point the sides even looked to be headed toward a hearing. Instead, the Rox agreed to a $26MM salary for the 2019 campaign (thus avoiding arbitration) under the pretense that Arenado’s agent, Joel Wolfe, would follow that up with a counter-offer to the team’s initial extension proposal.
Ultimately, it took a face-to-face meeting involving Arenado, Wolfe, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and Rockies owner Dick Monfort for significant progress to be made on the extension — as well as a final call from Monfort to Wolfe urging that they put the finishing touches on a deal. Rosenthal’s column is rife with quotes from Wolfe, Bridich and Arenado himself — each detailing elements of negotiations and the thought processes of all parties involved at various points of talks. Rockies fans in particular will find it of great interest, of course, though a broader audience will surely appreciate the in-depth look of the inner-workings of one of the largest contracts in MLB history.
More on the Rockies…
- The Rockies have curiously declined to address their catching situation this offseason. The reason, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, is that the organization is more concerned with glovework behind the dish than with offense. While there’s an acknowledgement from the club that it “needs more production from whoever plays,” says Saunders, it evidently still believes in its current options over the opportunities that were (and are) available on the market. The Rox are “generally pleased” with Tony Wolters from a defensive standpoint, which is supported by numbers that show he was an above-average framer and otherwise solid defender last year. Veteran Chris Iannetta has a spottier defensive record, though he has at times graded as a well-above-average framer. There’s also Tom Murphy — a former top prospect who has yet to establish himself at the MLB level and now finds himself out of minor league options. His power is more intriguing than his glove, though Murphy drew solid framing marks in ’18 and has generally controlled the running game at a roughly league-average level. In all, catching still looks like a weak spot for the Rockies, and the declaration that defense is valued more than offense seems an odd justification, as there were certainly options who could’ve provided both quality glovework and at least passable offense.
- Third base prospect Colton Welker wasn’t disheartened to see the Rox commit to Arenado for the long term, writes Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Welker, a 21-year-old considered to be among the organization’s top five prospects, told Harding his current focus is simply on moving up the ladder in the system after a strong showing in Class-A Advanced last season. Furthermore, he explained that he almost expected the Rockies to do so. “Who wouldn’t sign that guy with the numbers he’s put up?” Welker asked rhetorically, adding that he relishes the opportunity to learn from a player of Arenado’s caliber in Spring Training. As the Rox have done with third base prospects Tyler Nevin and Josh Fuentes (the latter of whom is Arenado’s cousin), they’ve begun to give Welker some looks at first base with an eye toward the future. “Colton knew going into this past offseason that first base was going to be a focus in 2019, regardless of what happened with Nolan,” director of player development Zach Wilson told Harding. A fourth-round pick back in 2016, Welker crushed Class-A Advanced pitching at a .333/.383/.489 clip in 2018.
- Minor league right-hander Jesus Tinoco will work as a reliever moving forward, manager Bud Black told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Saunders). The big righty, who was acquired in the trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays, struggled to the tune of a 4.79 ERA through 26 starts (141 innings) at the Double-A level last season and has yet to post an ERA south of 4.67 at any level in the Rockies organization. That said, Tinoco posted encouraging marks of 8.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 last season and pitched well in 10 relief appearances in the Arizona Fall League last season.
Should “above average framing” really outweigh a guy hitting .170 with a sub .300 OBP? Especially on a contending team?
You fail to remember that guy who hit .170 won a playoff game for them.
I dont think one playoff game makes a player worth keeping around.
Until they can prove that only with that catcher would that umpire have called that a strike will framing be more than a fairy tale. Basing who your catcher is on real categories makes much more sense. Gice me a C who can block balls in the dirt, and throw out runners and I will be happy withpassable offense.
Agreed. In 2015 Russell Martin’s framing stats took a hit by catching RA Dickey. Martin is a very good catcher when it comes to framing.
I’m not a huge proponent of framing as the be-all end-all of catching skills, but it has been shown that good framing is a skill. There was an ESPN piece in 2014 – ESPN the Magazine / PLAYBOOK / 06.27.14 – that gave a quick look at the proof..
Variations between catchers for most pitchers is expected but catchers like Tyler Flowers have shown across multiple pitchers on different teams that they can show the umpire a borderline pitch is a strike better than their peers.
BP’s stats are pretty good and as I recall, they ignore pitchers like Dickey and Wright where the skill needed is knocking it down before it gets past you, not framing.
did they take into account that certain umpires have larger strike zones than others? That has been shown to be a consistent pattern.
Framing is a pretty consistent skill with lots of data to support it. It’s especially more so now that umpires have a more rigid strike zone thanks to computers and the league mandate from about ten years ago, in which umpires are reviewed every game on ball/strike calls and disciplined for bad calls. In that context framing matters, and it’s a fairly obvious skill. You can watch a game and see a good catcher saving strikes for his pitcher all the time. In Jane Leavy’s excellent bio of Koufax, she points out that Johnny Roseboro, who wasn’t much of a hitter, was Koufax’s favorite catcher he ever pitched to, and in large part it was because he was so good at framing, although that term wasn’t used so much back then. Roseboro’s career, coincidentally, ended right about when Koufax’s did.
Meh. The Rockies have plenty of offense. I would much rather have a good defensive catcher than a Wilin Rosario type that gives away 4 games a season with bad defense. Up until recently, it was pretty normal for your catcher to hit not much more than .200. That’s why guys like Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza were really great. But now some people think that should be the norm.
If the Rockies catcher can avoid passed balls and steal a few strikes along the way, I really don’t care if his OBP is .050. In Coors, you need a good defensive catcher far more than a hitting catcher.
So, they are saying none of Suzuki, Gomes, Realmuto, etc. would have been an improvement over their current options?!? …I find that pretty hard to believe..
Why would they trade for realmuto when they are unlikely to win the division this year? You make that trade if ur close to contending for a World Series not a wild card
If you are contending for a wild card, as you say they are, trading for him could make you favorite for the division. Unfortunately, as long as they play in Denver, they will have that held against them, and won’t be looked at as the favorite.
AA is that you??
You do realize the Rockies were just 1 game out last year, right? Realmuto is not Mike Piazza. Get some perspective.
1 game out because the Dodgers had so many injuries last year
What does that mean? You say “they were one game out” and then you say “Realmuto isn’t mike piazza.” Seems like you have conflicting points here.
How are those conflicting points? They are both facts which contradicted your two questions.
You said the Rockies were not contenders for the division, I said they were one game out.
You acted like Realmuto was the type of player that could put a team over the top. I contend that he is not that type of player, Mike Piazza is.
Do you need more help, or can you figure it out from there?
1 game out is 1 game out regardless of any other circumstances. The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals only won 83 games and if they were in any other division in either league, would not have made the playoffs at all. History has still recorded them as World Champions of 2006. Everything else is immaterial.
Agents are a huge part of what’s wrong with baseball right now. Arrenado had to negotiate the deal himself for the team he’s always played for
Agents wouldn’t be needed if owners stopped capping salaries so they could line their own pockets even more than they need to and paid players based off profits not some made up maximum limit like $35M a year.
Fun fact, due to profits skyrocketing, top players should be making 50-75M a year.
No, players shouldn’t be making that much. Owners are entitled to whatever money they make. That said, there should be a minimum and maximum cap to keep the league competitive.
Fun fact owners are business owners not socialist organizations. They own their teams and are allowed to be capitalists. I’m just tired of comments that players (who are employees) should be entitled to profit sharing. IMO owners should push for a hard salary cap while conceding a minimum payroll number in the next CBA.
And they should Hard cap ticket prices at reasonable amounts.
The players deserve all the money they can get. I’ve been to many games. Not once have I ever shown up to see an owner. Without the players, there is no product.
Without the owners, there are no teams.
Without the players, there are no teams. And without taxpayers, there are no stadiums and infrastructure around them that the owners profit from.
Fun fact: Players are not slaves. They should be entitled to sell their services to the highest bidder, so no caps.
Then why should owners of small market teams get profit sharing? If their team isn’t making enough money it’s up to the owners, as capitalists, to make the team more profitable
You don’t go to movies to see the producers either, but they still make more money than the actors. You don’t go to Wal Mart because of the owners and yet, they get your money. In fact, it’s hard to think of any business where business is reliant on who is the owner.
As far as you other “point”,” without the owners, the players are car salesmen or factory workers that play softball on Tuesday nights. So it works both ways.
Maybe that’s how it works in the Russian league.
. I can’t name a single baseball owner who came from poverty and worked his way into baseball ownership; they’re almost all people who inherited their teams or grew up rich. A huge chunk of players grew up in abject poverty and found their skill as an athlete the only way out of that. It’s fair that because they create the revenue, they deserve their fair share – that isn’t socialism; that’s the way capitalism is supposed to work, right?
If you believe in free-market capitalism, shouldn’t you advocate for no cap? Let the market determine what players should be paid…
Colton Welker is the real deal. Switching to first is great, but moving Nolan around is not bad either. Both belong in the bigs together.
Welker made huge strides last year, if he keeps it up, the Rox either have a trade piece that could headline a trade for a superstar or their 1B of the future.
No one wants to see Arenado playing anywhere but 3B.
You are advocating moving the greatest defensive 3B since Brooks Robinson to first base to make room for a prospect? I’m not saying you’re wrong, but only because I think that should go without saying.
funny that the Rockies let go of the player they got for Tulo that will be the best going forward already.
Hoffman was the best player in the deal. Colorado won.
Tulowitzki was the overall best player in the deal, but injuries killed him. Hoffman has done almost nothing for the Rox. Castro couldn’t handle Coors with his walks. Reyes was arguably the worst Rockie of all time and caused the Rockies to spend $46 million for him to play for the Mets. Tinoco is likely to be a middle reliever, at best.
There was no winner in this deal.
Wait, you think Miguel Castro was the best player they got for Tulo? Really? Dude has been awful ever since he left the Jays. Last year he almost had more walks than strikeouts.
Guarantee if there were a minimum presidential term of ban on smart phones, this country would come together again and the people that actually care about baseball would still find their way here. Social media has become a rampid cancer leaking into absolutely everything and it’s beyond scary..
Seeing the hate all too often is just depressing, people need social media bullying help.
I’m a little confused about why the Bruce Maxwell post has comments removed. I completely understand why the Luke Heimlich post had the comments removed. Do you think that the kneeling would overshadow the talk about his actual playing.
because he is the only MLB player to have taken a knee during the anthem and he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Along with Heimlich it’s just opening a door that you probably don’t want to open.
while i agree to some sense, its probably worth avoiding the issues entirely for this site. Really, actions on a sports field are not nearly as bad as the crime Heimlich commited, but they knew there would still be vicious arguments that were better avoided.
At the same time, what Matt Bush did was much worse and the comments section wasn’t removed for his signing with the Rangers.
maybe they learned a lesson with that one?
oh I 100% agree with you Heimlich vs Maxwell. But it’s probably for the best to avoid arguments over that stuff. I’ve seen some social media posts with regards to Kapernick and they get bad.
I tried leaving them open for about an hour. It, predictably, devolved into a complete cesspool headlined by equal parts racism and equal parts vitriolic/pedantic political insult swapping. Frankly, it’s not worth the time it takes to address the landslide of emails, comment flags, etc. that we get on that type of post. I closed them and just trashed all the pre-existing comments.
I’d welcome a level-headed, respectful discussion regarding the matter, but this is the Internet, where people largely struggle to be civil when debating even minor issues, such as whether a team has a chance at making the playoffs. That’s not intended as a knock on our commenters; it’s just reality regarding virtually any means of online commenting/discussion in 2019.
As a general rule, we try to just keep politics, religion and other emotionally-charged, non-baseball discussions out of the comments on MLBTR. There are other places online to discuss them, and the overwhelming response from our readers and commenter base is that they simply don’t want to see it. And, again, it’s just not worth the effort it takes to try to police it.
Hopefully you can understand that rationale, and hopefully we can keep the remainder of the comments on this post focused on the Rockies.
Thank you for this. The Internet with its anonymity and the ability to create dozens of accounts on any site, turns sour so quickly. I would like to have baseball discussion that occasionally delve into thoughtful political discussions, but that’s hard in this format. I am an internet absolutist in the sense that I always attach my real name to anything I post anywhere, which allows me some kind of accountability, and also means I have to admit when I’m wrong. I know there’s no way to police the tens of thousands of people who post here, but it would be nice if people were just civil and thoughtful. Lately I’ve noticed that four different posters continually attack my baseball posts, and after looking at a few of them, I’m almost certain it’s all the same person – they write the same, their handles are similar, etc. That’s sort of sad; that kind of petty targeting. I like thoughtful baseball conversations, not hot takes or trolling.
Thank you for holding a civil boundary on comments.
Royals trade for Tom Murphy?
Iannetta is probably a better trade for them. He is on a 1 year deal. Salvy will be back next year and then what do you do with Murphy.
Iannetta for Kevin McCarthy perhaps.