With spring training less than three weeks away, there is the growing possibility that Nolan Arenado and the Rockies will enter salary arbitration to determine the amount of his 2019 contract.

According to a major-league source, the two sides probably will go to arbitration rather than reach an agreement on the all-star third baseman’s one-year contract. Arenado is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2019 season.

Arenado sought $30 million and the Rockies countered with a $24 million contract when the two sides exchanged figures earlier this month. Speculation has been that Arenado will ultimately land a deal around $27 million. Whether through negotiations or arbitration, Arenado’s salary will break the arbitration record of $23 million, set last year by Josh Donaldson, then with the Blue Jays.

This year’s arbitration hearings run from Feb. 1-20. When the two sides are unable to come to terms, they meet in front of an arbitration panel. Each side states its case and the three-person panel picks either the salary the player filed or the salary the team filed — there is no in-between figure. It should be noted, however, that teams and players can work out a contract of any size prior to a hearing.

In 2016, for example, former Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu was scheduled for an arbitration hearing but reached an agreement with Colorado for a two-year, $7.8 million contract on the day of his scheduled hearing.

Earlier this month, when asked if he thinks he’ll avoid arbitration, Arenado said: “This is a business, we’ll have to see what happens.”

Colorado has had just four arbitration hearings in its history: Dennys Reyes in 2002, Sun-Woo Kim (2006), Brian Fuentes (2008) and Wilin Rosario (2015).

General manager Jeff Bridich has been tight-lipped about contract negotiations with Arenado, including the possibility of a lucrative long-term deal.

“We haven’t set any deadlines or ultimatums in any sort of negotiations or any sort of situation with Nolan in the many, many years that he’s been in the organization, so why now?” Bridich said 10 days ago at an Insidetheseams.com town hall meeting. “I’m sure there may be more on the line now, in terms of his future, in terms of future dollars, than maybe there has been in the past.

“But we’re going to work hard to keep things moving along. At some point, as negotiations always do, you’re going to find a point where you’re equally happy or equally unhappy. And that’s where things get done or they don’t. But things are fine. We’ll keep things under wraps, under our hat for now, and just kind of keep plugging along.”