Do We Fully Appreciate Nolan Arenado?

We all know how talented and great Nolan Arenado is, but do we still not fully appreciate the type of player Arenado has become?

By Michael Foulks, Sports O’Clock Writing Team Member

Colorado Rockies Third Baseman Nolan Arenado (photo credits: Denver Post)

Nolan Arenado entered the Major Leagues in 2013, and 8 years later he has cemented himself as the top third baseman in the game. During those 8 years with Colorado he has been to five All-Star Games, has won eight Gold Gloves (yes, every single year of his career), four Sliver Sluggers, and has finished in the top eight of the MVP voting five times (Best 3rd place, 2018). This is what we call an incredible beginning to a Hall of Fame career; the only thing sidelining him is being in Colorado. Major League Baseball alone, does a horrible job at marketing their best players, so you can only imagine how smaller market teams do at marketing their players. Nolan Arenado would be considered the best player in baseball if he was on a different team, or if Colorado was actually a good team, but they are not.

For example, no one had any idea how good DJ LeMahieu was until he signed with the Yankees. He was signed late in the offseason as a backup, and only played when Brandon Drury got injured at the beginning of 2019 season. Look how that turned out for the Yankees, he has been their team MVP both years since, and has arguably been the best hitter in baseball. The only issue here was, he always has that great hitter, but no one noticed because he played for the Colorado Rockies. It wasn't until he stepped out the Mile High state that he got the attention that he deserved.

Nolan Arenado deserves just as much, and even more than DJ LeMahieu. No one watches the Colorado Rockies games, so they do not consistently see the defensive magician at work. Major League Baseball needs to step in and market Nolan for the Rockies, every single ball hit his way should be a highlight reel and be plastered all over their social media platforms. The other thing that has to happen is for the Colorado Rockies to part ways with Arenado, and stop wasting the best years of his career. Give him what he deserves and trade him to a playoff contender; somewhere he will get the attention and coverage that he has absolutely earned.

So until one of those two things above happens, we cannot fully appreciate Nolan Arenado. It would be a tragedy for him to stay in the Rocky Mountains for his entire career, and the front office should do him a favor and trade him to a better team.

(All Photos are properly cited. No copyright infringement intended.)