Nolan Arenado's Trade Comments Highlight the Conundrum of MLB's Mega Contracts

Here's the conundrum of massive major sports contracts: If you get paid, you're expected to win. At the same time, you're often expected to shut up.

It's an alluring narrative. You're rich beyond mere mortals' wildest dreams for playing a child's game. What are you whining about, even if you're stuck on a sub-.500 franchise?

On the other hand, considering how much money you're making, why aren't you single-handedly guiding your team to the promised land?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado spelled it out Thursday in remarks to USA Today's Bob Nightengale:

"The fans don't want me to lie to them. I'm going to be honest. I'm telling them what I feel, you know. They want transparency, and that's what I'm going to do. But you're going to hear both sides, right? 

If you sign for a lot of money, and pack it in, it's like, 'Oh, he just signed for the money and doesn't care anymore.' But if you sign for the money, and want to win, it's like, 'Wait, be quiet, you got paid a lot of money, you can’t complain.'"

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

He makes a salient point. In February 2019, Arenado inked an eight-year, $260 million extension with the Rockies. He's a seven-time Gold Glove winner, five-time All-Star and on the right side of 30 (he'll turn 29 in April). It was a fair deal for both sides, considering prevailing market trends.

But after losing 91 games and finishing a distant fourth in the National League West in 2019, the Rockies have done almost nothing to upgrade, and Arenado's name churned through the trade rumor mill to his seeming consternation.

In January, Arenado said he felt "disrespect" amid the trade rumblings. 

That's a far cry from what he said after inking his extension.

"It's such a great place," Arenado told reporters at the time. "I really enjoy the fact there's a comfortability here. You know the coaches. You know the players. Some of my best friends are on this team."

Is Arenado's about-face sour grapes from a multimillionaire athlete who should just shut his trap? There's an argument to be had.

But there is no salary cap in pro baseball. There's a luxury tax, but the owners are all obscenely wealthy and many benefit from revenue sharing and gargantuan TV contracts. If they want to pay for the best players and compete for a Commissioner's Trophy, they can.

No MLB player (or other professional sports star) lands a mega-contract because his dad owns the team or he simply got lucky. They all earned it via hard work, innate talent and elite production.

Some megadeals blow up in general managers' faces because of injury or regression. I wrote about 10 of those recently. Near-lock Hall of Famers such as Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera pop up.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

But no pro sports owner would write a long series of zeroes on a check without genuinely believing in the ability of the recipient.

Once they do that, aren't they at least partially responsible for seeing it through? And isn't the player, well paid though he may be, allowed to critique the club when warranted? Especially when, like Arenado, he's among the best players alive.

To put it bluntly: Would we respect athletes more if they didn't care about winning and simply cashed their sky-high paychecks while hanging out in the division basement?

"You can go to All-Star Games," Arenado said, per Nightengale. "Win Silver Sluggers. Win Gold Gloves. Whenever you accomplish those things, it's always a good feeling. I'd rather win a World Series than have my number retired."

Baseball is a team sport in the truest sense. No single player can carry a club on his back. The Rockies paid Arenado handsomely and, presumably, he assumed they'd do everything they could to contend. They haven't.

It happens a lot. Don't shed any tears for a man who, before age 30, has raked in enough dough to take care of his grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren.

But there are rich guys all over MLB. A lot of them wear suits instead of uniforms and sit in front offices instead of playing on the field.

Maybe it's time to aim more scrutiny and vitriol toward the suit-wearers for not trying to win and a bit less toward the mega-paid players for wishing they would.

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.