by DJ Stanec (@djstanec)

It was a process that spanned nearly a year. The re-signing of Nolan Arenado was certainly challenging at times, but Colorado Rockies’ general manager Jeff Bridich brought the star third baseman back to Denver.

Arenado signed a franchise-record-breaking eight-year, $260 million contract extension after countless conversations between his manager and Bridich.

Bridich sat down with Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 during Spring Training to talk about the re-signing of Arenado, as well as the Rockies offseason.

“We get to have him, be a part of us for hopefully many years to come,” Bridich said. “To this point in his life, even before he was a big leaguer, he has been a great member of this organization.”

Arenado, the six-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time Silver Slugger recipient is the reigning National League Platinum Glover from the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He is commonly thought of as the best third baseman in franchise history.

Arenado was not the only tough process dealt with from the Rockies front office this offseason. Bridich and the Rockies also decided not to resign second baseman, D.J. LeMahieu, who signed with the New York Yankees.

LeMahieu, a three-time Gold Glover, has helped Colorado to the postseason in each of the two seasons and his departure will make for a heated battle for the vacant position.

“Sometimes you have to make strategic decisions, and we feel like with the bevy of candidates for the second base spot that we have,” Bridich said. “It’s not like we decided to let D.J. go and went out and got another second baseman from somewhere else. We felt like, internally there were guys that had earned at least the opportunity.”

Garrett Hampson and Ryan McMahon came into Spring Training as two of those players who have earned opportunities at second base. In their spring stints, McMahon is hitting .439 on 63 plate appearances while Hampson is hitting .286 on 42 plate appearances. Coming into Opening Day for the Rockies, McMahon is considered to be the favorite, with Hampson assuming a utility role.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Jeff Bridich, including what he had to say about Jon Gray, or listen to the podcast below.

Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup. Download the all-new free Mile High Sports Radio mobile app for Apple or Android.