Rockies place Nolan Arenado on injured list

The Rockies announced that they’ve placed third baseman Nolan Arenado on the 10-day injured list with left AC joint inflammation and a left shoulder bone bruise, released reliever Wade Davis and recalled outfielder Sam Hilliard.

This will end the 2020 campaign for Arenado, a five-time All-Star who posted the worst numbers of his career this year. In fairness to Arenado, he only played 48 games and accrued 201 plate appearances, but no one expected the big-hitting 29-year-old to slash .253/.303/.434 – way down from the .295/.351/.546 line he owned entering the season.

It’s now possible Arenado has taken his last at-bat with the Rockies, as his dissatisfaction with team management was well-documented last offseason and may not have gotten any better since. Arenado has made it clear that he wants to win, but at 23-29, the Rockies are in line to miss the playoffs for a second straight season. Of course, from their standpoint, there may not be any incentive to move Arenado off such a disappointing showing by the 29-year-old. Regardless, 2021 could be the last guaranteed season for Arenado, whom the Rockies signed to an eight-year, $234M contract before 2019. That deal includes a post-2021 opt-out clause, though Arenado may be leery of exercising it in and leaving so much cash on the table.

Davis, meanwhile, became a DFA casualty on Saturday, ending a horrid stint in Colorado for the former lights-out right-hander. On an annual basis, Davis became the highest-paid reliever ever when the Rockies signed him to a three-year, $52M contract before 2018. Unfortunately for him and the Rockies, though, his tenure with the club couldn’t have gone much worse. Now 35, Davis mustered a miserable 6.49 ERA and lost about 2.5 mph on his fastball in 112 1/3 innings as a Rockie.