The ghosts of Nolan Arenado are almost gone. Almost.
When the Rockies released left-handed starter Austin Gomber on Friday, the club severed ties with the last remaining player acquired in the infamous 2021 trade that sent the disenchanted Arenado — and $51 million — to the Cardinals.
Arenado, the 10-time Gold Glove third baseman and eight-time All-Star, was the centerpiece of what’s widely viewed as one of the worst trades in Colorado sports history. I know many fans who turned their back on the Rockies because of the trade and have never returned.
Gomber nearly lasted five full seasons with the Rockies, going 28-44 with a 5.31 ERA over 125 games (109 starts). He was a mentor to other young pitchers and a steady presence in the clubhouse. But he would have had to pitch like Chris Sale for Rockies fans to forgive owner Dick Monfort for trading Arenado — even if Arenado did everything he could to get out of Denver.
Gomber never really escaped Arenado’s presence. Four starts into his 2023 season, he was ripped for nine runs in two innings at Coors Field in a 14-3 loss to the Pirates. After that game, the often-candid Gomber admitted that being Colorado’s most valuable piece in the Arenado trade weighed on him.
“I’m kinda searching for (my own identity) right now,” Gomber said. “In the past, I tried not to worry about (being attached to Arenado), and I think I was better at that earlier on when I was here. But the longer I’ve been here (the harder it gets). Because when (the trade) first happened, I didn’t understand the magnitude of it here.”
Gomber, at least, gave the Rockies something. They got next to nothing for the other four players they acquired in the Arenado trade.
Infielder Elehuris Montero washed out as a third baseman and then tried his hand at first when Kris Bryant was sidelined by injury. Over parts of three seasons with Colorado (2022-24), Montero played in 205 games, slashed .228/.387/.665, hit 21 homers, and put up a minus-1.7 WAR. He’s currently playing for Hiroshima in the Japanese Central League.
Infielder Mateo Gil never made it above High-A with the Rockies before he was selected by the Mets in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. He advanced to Triple-A Syracuse but never made it to the majors. He last played in Mexico with Charros de Jalisco.
Right-handed reliever Jake Sommers pitched at Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque last season, but has not pitched this season. Over parts of four minor league seasons, he threw in 52 games (12 starts) with a 5.83 ERA.
Right-hander Tony Locey made it as high as Double-A Hartford in 2022, but he posted a 12.11 ERA over 14 games (eight starts) with the Yard Goats. He last played in the Rays’ organization in 2023 for High-A Bowling Green.
Even if the players involved in the Arenado are now all gone, a couple of phantoms remain.
First, there is the money. This is the final year in which Colorado had to pay St. Louis $5 million, the final installment of the $51 million the Rockies agreed to pay to offset the $199 million remaining on Arenado’s nine-year, $275 million contract.
Soon, the last remaining ghost will be Bryant. True, he was not part of the Arenado trade, but when the Rockies signed Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract shortly before the 2022 season, it was a botched attempt to replace Arenado with an instant star. That’s not just my opinion; several people in the Rockies organization agree that Monfort signed Bryant as a make-good for the Arenado debacle.
Bryant has played in just 11 games this season because of his chronic back condition. He’s played in a total of 170 games in four seasons with the Rockies. There is a good chance he will never play again, but the Rockies still owe him $27 million in 2026, ’27 and ’28.
Of course, the trade hasn’t turned out like Arenado envisioned either. A year after he signed his massive deal with the Rockies, he wanted out because he was convinced the Rockies were not committed to winning and because of his toxic relationship with former general manager Jeff Bridich.
But Arenado is 34 now, and he’s never come close to playing in a World Series with the Cardinals. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2022, and Arenado has never won a postseason game with the Redbirds.
As I wrote last summer, “If the Cardinals don’t rediscover (their) winning ways soon, with Arenado leading the way, one of the biggest trades in Colorado sports history won’t turn out like anyone projected. Least of all, the man at the center of it all.”
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