SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The greatest third baseman in major league history had a point to make. It was in January, and Mike Schmidt was on the phone talking about his old position, which had gained another Hall of Famer with the election of Chipper Jones to Cooperstown. Schmidt, a 10-time Gold Glove winner with three Most Valuable Player Awards and 548 home runs, said his reign would soon come to an end.

“In my opinion, Nolan Arenado is going to be the heir apparent to the all-time greatest third basemen,” Schmidt said. “He puts up numbers that I never even dreamed of. I don’t think George Brett did or Chipper did, either. His numbers are crazy, and he hasn’t won an M.V.P. yet, which is really crazy.”

Arenado, the sublime slugger for the Colorado Rockies, is the only third baseman in history with three seasons of 35 homers and 130 runs batted in. He is just 26; only Jimmie Foxx, in the 1930s, had as many such seasons so young.

Arenado is hardly a creation of Coors Field (he hit 19 homers there last season, and 18 on the road), but his overall production could be distorted by its funhouse-mirror reputation. Yet his fielding at third base, a skill completely unrelated to thin air, is indisputable.