Rockies owner: Bridich-Arenado rift 'blown out of proportion'

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort set the record straight Saturday regarding the relationship between star third baseman Nolan Arenado and general manager Jeff Bridich.

Monfort said the rift between the two has been "blown out of proportion," and that he expects Arenado to be with the Rockies for spring training, according to Kyle Newman of The Denver Post.

Arenado, a five-time All-Star, said in January he felt disrespected after Bridich pulled him off the trade block. He later reportedly revealed he felt betrayed by Colorado's lack of offseason spending less than a year after he signed an eight-year, $260-million extension with the club.

"(People forget) that Jeff was with Nolan in Triple-A and Double-A because he was the farm director at that time, and when you're coming up through the ranks, there's some tough love along the way," Monfort said. "I think there's issues, but I think the Nolan and Jeff issue is down the pecking list."

Monfort admitted that he understands why Colorado's 71-win campaign in 2019, which followed a season that saw the club reach the NLDS, irked Arenado.

"Nolan's a very competitive guy - he wants to win, and last year was hard on all of us," the 65-year-old said. "I think a lot of last year is on his mind, and if we're going to have a bad team this year. We really didn't do anything in the offseason, so if you don't make a lot of changes, (he's probably wondering) if we're going into the same thing."

Monfort said the seven-time Gold Glover hasn't asked him for a trade, and he shot down a recent report that the Rockies discussed a trade with the Chicago Cubs involving Arenado and Kris Bryant.

Despite a lack of noteworthy moves over the winter, Monfort predicted Colorado will win a franchise-record 94 games in 2020.