Denver Post sports columnist Mark Kiszla answered questions about all things Colorado sports in a live chat Monday. Here are the highlights.
Kiz, can you tell me who exactly we got back in the Nolan Arenado trade? It looks like we gave away the keys to our Ferrari and a bag of cash for some slightly burnt Sears activewear.
Kiszla: OK, we’ve got to start this chat with Nolan Arenado. Did we have any other choice? First, let me say: Alongside Todd Helton and Larry Walker, he’s the best player to ever wear purple pinstripes. Had he played his entire career in Colorado, I would’ve said he was a near lock to be lauded as the greatest player in franchise history. And he’s a good dude on top of all that. Nobody, not even your 9-year-old nephew or neice that sleeps with a first baseman’s mitt, loves playing baseball more than Arenado.
While we await all the final details of the trade as it goes through various channels to be approved, this much we know: The Rockies so much wanted to unload a huge chunk of their financial obligation to Arenado and also wanted him gone so badly that they are willing to pay the St Louis Cardinals in the neighborhood of $50 million to take him away.
I could say a lot of things in response to this deal.
But since this is a family friendly chat, I will stick with these two words:
Holy. Moly.
It does appear the Rockies will get back something more than slightly burnt Sears activewear.
But not a whole lot more.
Assuming the St. Louis players are negligible, why pay St Louis $50 million? Why not just let Arenado leave at the end of the year and save $50 milliion? I’m sure I’m missing something here, can you explain it?
Kiszla: Nobody accuses me of being particular smart, but on the surface, it would appear the Rockies would have been smarter baseball move to keep Arenado in the lineup until the trade deadline, when his value might’ve been greater to a contender, or let him opt out of his contract at season’s end. So if it wasn’t about baseball, was it all about the money? Did the pandemic really have such an adverse effect on gate revenue that the team’s finances are in disarray. Could it possibly be that Dick Monfort was feeling uncomfortable with how his McGregor Square development project was unfolding? You tell me. I’m no accountant. But I agree. Something about this deal doesn’t quite add up.
Any chance the Rockies actually keep Trevor Story after that debacle of a trade with Arenado? It feels like cost-cutting measures from the Rockies brass.
Kiszla: I’d like to believe Trevor Story will finish his career in Colorado. I don’t, however, see there’s much reason to believe that will happen. Could the Rockies use some of the money previously committed to Arenado and use it to lock up Story to a long-term contract. In theory, that’s possible.
But here’s what I’ve observed during my time hanging around the Rockies in recent seasons. Nolan Arenado and Story are both good people, righteous dudes and awesome teammates.
Arenado, however, has a soft heart. And he hates distraction … or anything that gets in the way of him playing ball. I think that’s one major reason he signed a long-term deal with the Rockies. Was that deal for beaucoup bucks? Yes. And money always matters in pro sports. But I also believe Arenado genuinely loves his Colorado teammates and didn’t want to rock the boat of his world. The flip side of that coin? When Arenado felt betrayed, or at least underappreciated, by Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich, it hurt him on a deeply personal level.
Story has a good heart. But I also think Story has always looked at baseball with the steely eyes of a businessman, much more so than Arenado. That’s my way of saying it’s hard for me to imagine that Story hasn’t already thoroughly thought about the pros and cons regarding a potential exit from Colorado.
The meter would suggest it’s a no-brainer for Story to seek a franchise with a stronger chance to compete.
Hate to say it, but my guess is Story is already good as gone.
Hope I’m wrong.
Saw your column where you said the worst trade in Colorado sports history; I can’t recall anything that close, maybe when the Broncos swapped Bobby Humphrey for Sam Smith in the early ’90s. I recall that raising some eyebrows. Can’t remember who the Nuggets traded David Thompson for.
Kiszla: Well, meaning no disrespect to Bobby Humphrey, but comparing his ability as a running back to Nolan Arenado’s talent as a third baseman is a great big stretch, at best. By the time the Nuggets traded David Thompson in 1982 for our good friend Bill Hanzlik, the talent and the life for the Skywalker was in steep decline.
Now, a long-time Broncos fan did remind me this weekend that our local pro football team did trade two first-round draft picks in the late 1960s for quarterback Steve Tensi. By any measure, that was a stinker of a deal for the Broncos. But worse than paying St. Louis $50 million to steal a third baseman with legit Hall of Fame potential? Don’t think I would go that far.
Given how they treated Nolan, how does an organization every try to get good players now? It seems like there isn’t a player on the planet that would feel safe signing with the Rockies now. Feels like they have doomed any possibility of being competitive until Dick/Jeff are not running the show. Can they rebuild trust?
Kiszla: Given how badly it ended in Colorado for Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado, why would any up-and-coming star look forward to wearing purple pinstripes?
NL West Cellar and bottom-five minor system. What do Rockies fans have to look forward to? Besides “formidable” 1-2-3 starters?
Kiszla: It appears there’s a shot this major league season will be cut back from 162 games to 154. So maybe the Rockies won’t loss 100 games.
That’s the most cheery and bright even a guy like Mr. Sunshine (moi) can give you right now.
With Matthew Stafford off the table (thank god), do the Broncos go after DeShaun Watson with full force now? I mean, why not, right? They’ve been in a stagnant pool of mediocrity since Peyton Manning retired. Why not go for the big fish and see what happens?
Kiszla: This might be the biggest upset in the history of the Kickin’ It Chat. We’ve gone nearly 40 minutes without a question about the Broncos’ quarterback. Amazing.
Based on the reporting of national NFL media members with solid credentials and what I’ve heard, the Broncos were willing to give up a first-round draft choice to obtain Matthew Stafford from Detroit.
The Los Angeles Rams, however, shipped two — count ’em, two — future first-rounds and quarterback Jared Goff (who has a more solid track record than Drew Lock) to the Lions and won the Stafford derby.
Deshaun Watson is the man. Watson is my guy. The smoke signals coming out of Broncos HQ, however, indicate the team isn’t confident it can be a serious player for Watson’s services.
Sometimes players/coaches have a connection to a city that makes working/playing for a certain team highly desirable. For example, Mike Munchak coaching here because he supposedly has family here. Do you think Eric Bieniemy would prefer to coach the Broncos, assuming Vic is out after next year? Aka would we have a good chance at landing him? Lastly, can you give us two players you think the Broncos are high on in the upcoming draft. Thanks.
Kiszla: At this point, I think Eric Bieniemy would love to coach any NFL team that would hire him. It’s hard for me to believe that geography, or even his old allegiances to CU, would have a major influence on Bieniemy. The ability to win, the presence of a franchise quarterback, a solid ownership situation and money should be higher on Bieniemy’s list. If that’s not the case, he’s nuts.
As George Paton is new to the Broncos organization, I’m not a guy that’s prepared to guess on how he views prospects in the upcoming draft.
Besides, I think I can pick players at the top of the draft board as well as most GMs. Sure, I make mistakes. But I do love college football. For example: The top receiver on my list (I don’t do boards) a year ago was Justin Jefferson of LSU, not Jerry Jeudy of Alabama, and certainly not Henry Ruggs, who wasn’t in my top three.
So in addition to being a big fan of Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, a slam dunk to go No. 1 to Jacksonville, here are two players I really like that probably won’t be taken off the board until the middle of the first round:
Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Alabama running back Najee Harris.
As the draft grows nearer, players I consider to be “my guys” will come into sharper focus.
One good thing — now maybe the Cards will beat the Dodgers in the playoffs.
Kiszla: Well, there’s that.
Back in the day, I was among the worst students in the history of the University of Missouri. Part of my “education” was drinking Budweiser in the right-field bleachers of old Busch Stadium. So this much I did learn: St. Louis loves the Cardinals the way Denver loves the Broncos. So I’m happy Nolan Arenado will be working in a great baseball town, and winning baseball clearly makes folks in St. Louis beam with pride, which is always among the coolest things about fandom.
Hey Kiz — great column on Satruday except Harvard isn’t the problem though as Bridich got in on an athletic scholarship. I wish it had been on his academics and maybe the Rockies wouldn’t be so bad off. Why don’t they just let Arenado play out this year? That would at least save them 50M. I don’t understand their thinking at all. Screams of lunacy and desperation and more lunacy! They get no players and have to pay. Time for the Monforts to sell. Money isn’t the problem as they finish their persons luxury condos in McGregor Square for their family … it’s that they just don’t care about the team or the fans.
Kiszla: To this point, Dick and Charlie Monfort have shown no inclination to sell the Rockies. Ownership with deeper pockets, however, would probably be a good thing for major league baseball in Denver.
This wasn’t a trade, but Josh McDaniels for Mike Shanahan would be up there if so!
Kiszla: I see what you did there. I’d also like to know: At this point, would you take an older (and wiser?) Josh McDaniels over Vic Fangio as coach of the Broncos?
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