SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A $260 million contract usually calls for a celebration, but Nolan Arenado preferred to stay in on Tuesday night. He invited over his agent, Joel Wolfe, to watch videos of Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen.

Beltre and Rolen were premier defenders at third base, All-Stars deep into their 30s. Arenado is almost 28, and the Colorado Rockies are now committed to him through 2026, when he will turn 35. He and Wolfe studied others who aged well, like Jeff Kent, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley — and, just for fun, they admired footage of the most majestic home runs by the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton.

Arenado did not top Stanton’s contract, which is still the high mark for guaranteed money: $325 million over 13 years. But Arenado did establish a record for highest average annual salary by a position player, at $32.5 million across eight seasons. In a bewildering winter for players, that was a priority.

“There is a wave of young players that I don’t think the game has ever seen before that are now in the lower levels of the arbitration system,” Wolfe said, naming Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, Aaron Judge and others. “And guys like Nolan make a difference on what they can earn.”