Best MLB player on each team in 2019

Colorado Rockies: Nolan Arenado

After fits and starts for two decades, the Colorado Rockies have finally established themselves as a team that can contend for a title for more than one random season at a time. It took years to figure out how to work around the extra complications that come with playing 81 games a year at altitude, but the Rockies have developed a pitching staff able to hold up to the rigors and a lineup that does not fall apart on the road.

No one player can be given all the credit for completely turning the Rockies around, as it has been a total team effort from the front office down to the dugout. On the current roster, however, All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado shoulders the most responsibility for creating a winning culture. The four-time All-Star is etching his name next to Todd Helton and Larry Walker in the annals of Rockies franchise history.

Arenado is the most complete third baseman in baseball, and he has the Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers to back it up (though Manny Machado will offer much stiffer competition now that he has moved to the National League and back to the hot corner). The 27-year-old has Six Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers at third base and has led the NL in home runs three times and MLB in RBI twice.

The Rockies have locked up Arenado to a seven-year extension that will keep him in Colorado for the rest of his prime. It’s a good time to be a Rockies fan, and Arenado is the most recognizable athlete in Denver.