Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Rockies and All Star third baseman Nolan Arenado are finalizing an eight-year contract extension worth more than $255 million. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic confirms that the deal is worth $260 million, and points out that this isn’t an extension so much as a new contract, replacing the one-year $26 million contract he had signed for 2019. The deal has a full no-trade clause, Passan reports.
With an opt-out after three years, Arenado could become a free agent at 30 years-old if he wanted to, though this deal does make him the league’s highest-paid position player. At $32.5 million per season, the deal has the highest AAV for any position player ever, topping Miguel Cabrera‘s $31 million mark. Only Zack Greinke ($34.4 million) has a higher average annual salary.
Arenado, 27, is as consistent as they come on both sides of the ball. He’s won the NL Gold Glove award for third baseman in every season he’s played, making him six-for-six so far. He’s also finished 8th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd in MVP voting the last four seasons, averaging 158 games played, 40 home runs, 126 RBIs, 40 doubles, and a .297/.358/.573 slash line during that span.
He clearly benefits from playing half his games at the hitter-loving Coors Field, as while he’s slashed .320/.374/.609 with 108 home runs at home in his career, in the same number of games (and just 11 less plate appearances), he’s slashed .263/.318/.469 with 78 home runs on the road. Put simply, his home OPS of .984 far exceeds his road OPS of .787. This has to have played a major factor in signing this mega-deal, knowing if he hit free agency, teams could use his home/away splits as a reason to pay him less.
