Charlie Blackmon! He’s here! And he will stay here, for a really, really long time.

The Colorado Rockies announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed Charlie Blackmon to a six-year contract, including two player options, which could keep him with the club through the 2023 season.

Quite the contract for quite the player who hit for historic numbers in 2017 out of the lead-off position. But how does the deal for Blackmon, affect the elephant in the room, Nolan Arenado and his long-term status with the Rockies?

In an interview with Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7, MLB.Com’s Thomas Harding says the Rockies may have helped their cause, but in the end, money will be the main determining factor.

“I think that could be part of it. But with Nolan being one of the top stars of the game, I think the biggest message is going to be money,” Harding said. “Lets face it, when he’s ready to go into free agency after the 2019 season, He could become one of the highest paid players of all-time.”

Certainly a massive deal awaits Arenado, who potentially could be breaking the bank to the tune of $300+ million dollars. Harding says, that’s the lure that will hang over the situation, regardless what the Rockies do.

“That’s hanging out there. No matter what the Rockies do. The lure of being one of the highest paid players in baseball…that is always going to be there,” Harding said.

“It could make some difference to him, I don’t know if it’s going to be a determining factor though because of the amount of money that could be on the table for him.”

Sorry – this audio content is no longer available., including what he had to say about Blackmon’s personality, how this deal lays out for the Rockies and more, or listen to the podcast below.

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