The winter of Nolan Arenado‘s discontent took root last autumn.

Frustrated and disillusioned by the Rockies’ 71-win season, the Rockies’ all-star third baseman met with general manager Jeff Bridich shortly after the season ended and argued that the team needed to make aggressive moves in the offseason in order to improve. But when Bridich told Arenado that the Rockies were largely going to stand pat this winter, he expressed his displeasure.

The conversation turned confrontational and soured the relationship, according to sources. That relationship has not mended.

Feelings boiled over Monday when Bridich told The Denver Post he was putting the brakes on any trade talk involving Arenado. Teams that had shown interest in a possible trade included the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, according to sources.

“With the season coming up and spring training on the horizon, we are going to start focusing on that,” Bridich told The Post.

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Shortly after the story broke, Arenado responded, saying he felt “disrespected” by Bridich.

“I really don’t care what’s being said. I just know that I feel disrespected over there,” he said, adding, “I’m not upset at the trade rumors. There’s more to this than that.”

The “more to this” comment refers to the way he views he has been treated by Bridich. The Rockies have not yet responded to Arenado’s comments.

Although Arenado declined to talk publicly about the details of his deteriorating relationship with Bridich, multiple sources told The Post that Arenado feels like “promises were broken” after he signed an eight-year, $260 million contract last February. At that point, Arenado believed the Rockies were going to make roster moves to further improve a team that made the playoffs in 2017 and 2018.

That did not happen as the Rockies’ skidded toward the bottom of the National League West in 2019 and followed up with a quiet offseason in which they have not made a significant free-agent signing.

“I don’t think we have a lot of flexibility next year of making some great big splash,” owner Dick Monfort said at an end-of-season news conference. “Now that doesn’t mean that we can’t get creative and do some things that will help if the right deal comes along.”

The Rockies’ 2019 total adjusted payroll, according to Spotrac, was a club-record $157.1 million. Even with no big-league additions this winter, Colorado’s current payroll is $152.9 million. A new television contract that kicks in after the 2020 season should give the Rockies more payroll power.

Arenado, however, is clearly worried about the team’s future.

“Promises were made when Nolan signed his deal, and then, it was as if they were never discussed,” said one source who is close to Arenado. “Nolan has become disillusioned with the focus and direction of the team.”

The Rockies, of course, see things differently, and according to sources were upset by Arenado’s public criticism of the team last season, especially after he had signed such a lucrative contract.

“These guys have a great opportunity to show what they have and go into spring training with the upper hand,” Arenado told The Athletic in September. “They should take every game seriously. And I need to lead by example. But it sucks that that’s what it feels like. It feels like a rebuild.”

At the end-of-the-season news conference, Bridich and owner Dick Monfort were asked about “It feels like a rebuild.”

Bridich said: “If we were truly in a rebuild, Nolan Arenado probably wouldn’t be here to make comments like that.”

Monfort said: “I haven’t seen many rebuilds that start with signing the face of your franchise, your best player, to a $260 million contract.”

Arenado can opt out of his contract after the 2021 season when he’ll have $167 million remaining on his contract. Bridich said in October that it was he, not Arenado, who pushed for the opt-out clause during negotiations. Bridich said it provided time for both sides to assess the deal and the club’s direction.

Arenado has said he does not want to be like former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who played his entire 17-year career with the team and got to the postseason just twice. However, when the Rockies signed Arenado, they did not consider the opt-out clause to be a major problem.

“If there’s a list of issues that we need to deal with, that is like No. 775 on the page,” Monfort said. “So I don’t think any of us are really worried about it at this time.”

So what happens next? Although Arenado has yet to publicly ask for a trade, Monday’s developments could recharge a possible deal, despite what Bridich said.

But any trade involving Arenado would be complicated. Not only does his contract contain an opt-out clause, Arenado also has a full no-trade provision in his contract, meaning he can give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to any deal.

Colorado’s situation is similar to that of the Miami Marlins, who traded star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees following Stanton’s NL MVP season in 2017. Stanton also had no-trade provisions and he quashed deals with the Cardinals and San Francisco Giants before agreeing to a trade to the Yankees. Stanton had $265 million of the $295 million remaining on his contract.