Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado reflects on ‘what could have been’ with Rockies

Nearly seven years have passed, but “what if” still lingers. What if the Rockies had made some dramatic moves to improve the club at the 2018 trade deadline? What if the club had re-signed All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu — considered the toughest player on the team — instead of letting him walk away at the end of the season, only to see him become a star with the Yankees? What if the Rockies’ front office and owner Dick Monfort had improved the core of that 2018 team that won 91 games before losing the National League West title to the Dodgers in Game 163? “Oh yeah, I think about it,” Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado said Monday night before playing the Rockies at Coors Field. “I mean, we’ve talked about it. I’ve talked to DJ about it and (Trevor) Story about it.” Arenado, 34, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, is on the back end of his career. He entered Monday’s game slashing .241/.299/.381 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. After signing an eight-year, $260 million contract in February 2019, Arenado was traded from the Rockies to the Cardinals in February 2021 in one of the most infamous trades in Colorado sports history. But in 2018, the Rockies had a “special” team. Arenado’s words. Colorado fans thought so, too. More than 3 million watched baseball at Coors Field. Arenado was nearing the peak of his powers, slashing .297/.374/.561 with an NL-high 38 homers and 110 RBIs. Of all of the “what could have beens,” it’s Colorado’s failure to go all out at the trade deadline in 2018 that sticks with him. “I think we were more disappointed with the lack of deadline moves at the time,” he said. “If we had just gotten over the edge to win that division.” Arenado paused for a moment, then added, “I think about some games that season that we didn’t win, and I think, ‘My gosh, we blew that game.’ Or, ‘We didn’t score enough runs.’ If we had added just a little bit more, we would have won the division. That’s what I believe.” The Rockies lost Game 163, 5-2, at Los Angeles. They beat the Cubs, 2-1, in 13 innings in the NL wild-card game at Wrigley Field, but then got swept in three games by Milwaukee in the divisional round. It’s been downhill ever since, with Colorado closing in on seven consecutive losing seasons and now headed toward a third consecutive 100-loss season. But the ’18 Rockies were loaded, especially in the infield with Ian Desmond (22 homers, .729 OPS) at first, Gold Glove winner LeMahieu at second (15 homers, .749 OPS), and Story, the Silver Slugger winner, at shortstop (37 homers, .914 OPS). In the outfield, the Rockies had Charlie Blackmon (29 homers, .860 OPS) and Carlos Gonzalez (16 homers, .796 OPS), as well as veteran Gerardo Parra (six homers, .714 OPS). Para, along with CarGo, brought some levity to an otherwise all-business clubhouse. Lefty Kyle Freeland (17-7, 2.85 ERA) and right-hander German Marquez (14-11, 3.77 ERA) anchored a strong rotation. Freeland and Marquez, along with right-hander Antonio Senzatela and third baseman Ryan McMahon (a role player in 2018), are the only players remaining from that team. Does Freeland ever look back? “Absolutely,” he said. “I feel like every organization can look at players that were dealt away or not re-signed in free agency. I mean, what if we did have DJ at second, Story at short and Nolan at third for a longer, extended period of time? “There are so many ‘what ifs,’ but it always comes down to the fact that this is a business. Guys want to test free agency, and they want new contracts. And you have to ask, ‘Do they want to be here?’ ” How good was that 2018 team? “It was very good,” Freeman said. “You look at that core of veterans who moved on and what they have done in the game, and you do wonder, ‘What could have been?’ ” Related Articles Rockies look to JB Middleton to reverse club’s fortunes with college pitchers at top of MLB draft Walk-plagued Rockies lose to Twins, waste chance for rare Coors Field sweep ‘Team Holliday’ anchored by Leslee, mother of baseball’s famous family and Rockies’ latest top pick Rockies clinch first home series win of 2025 with 10-6 victory over Twins Rockies Journal: Ezequiel Tovar returns, but will Brenton Doyle ever find his way back? Arenado said that the camaraderie on Colorado’s last playoff team was “special.” The work ethic was “exceptional.” In his opinion, the game has changed. “I think what I’m seeing now, compared to that group, was that that group was super excited to come to the field every day and get to work,” he said. “I felt like everybody was chasing being great — individually. “We weren’t that good, we were pretty good, we weren’t great. But it was a totally different vibe from what I see now from players, compared to those players (in ’18). The guys got to the field at 12:45 every day. Guys were excited to get to the field early, and we stayed late all of the time. Now, it’s just different.” Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.