LAS VEGAS — Topic No. 1 for Rockies fans this winter is not about who’s on first in 2019. Nor is it about whether the club will add a power bat to wake up its sleepy offense. Those issues, important as they are, are secondary.

The fate of all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado, who’s entering the final year of his contract, trumps everything, at least in the eyes of many fans. Will he sign a long-term deal? Will he be traded?

Yet here at the winter meetings, Arenado’s future has been put on the back burner, at least for now. General manager Jeff Bridich, who’s busy swapping text messages with teams and agents, has more immediate concerns at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Yes, Bridich is aware of the Arenado issue, and he made it clear Monday that the Rockies are still in the game when it comes to a long-term deal with their third baseman. Bridich said the Rockies continue to have “good communication” with Arenado. The GM also reiterated that Colorado could afford to pay Arenado north of $200 million on a new deal, adding, again, that the Rockies are seeking “responsible growth.”

Last season, the Rockies had an opening-day payroll of $136.9 million and have steadily increased their payroll over the last few years.

“Our payroll has grown a lot over the past half-decade, and we’re continuing to plan on, as I’ve said in the past, responsible growth,” Bridich said. “We’re not in a holding pattern. We’re not where we’re drawing back on our payroll. We believe that we can continue to grow responsibly.”

That being said, the Rockies aren’t suddenly going to start spending like the Red Sox or the Dodgers.

“It’s not going to grow by huge, huge, huge jumps every single year, but we’ve made some commitments that we believe in, guys that we believe in,” he said. “We signed (outfielder) Charlie Blackmon this past year to a long-term deal (six years, $108 million).”

Hit man. Dave Magadan has emerged as a strong contender to be the Rockies’ next hitting coach, replacing the departed Duane Espy. Bridich, however, would not confirm that Madagan will join the staff of manager Bud Black. Bridich did say that the club will hire one hitting coach, plus retain Jeff Salazar as the second hitting coach. Magadan was the Red Sox’s hitting coach when they defeated the Rockies in the 2007 World Series.

Magadan, 55, played in the majors for parts of 16 season and was the hitting coach at Arizona for the past three seasons.

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Quotable. “The nice thing with us is that we don’t feel like we have to make a whole slew of changes to the team. We are very comfortable and very happy and very confident in so much of what we have on this team. So we get to be somewhat picky and somewhat choosy.” — Bridich

Footnotes. It’s clear that Colorado is looking for help in the outfield or at first base. When asked if multidimensional player Marwin Gonzalez was on the club’s radar, Bridich said, “That’s tough to say,” seeming to indicate that the Rockies are not making a pitch for him. Bridich did say that the Rockies talked to Philadelphia about slugging first baseman Carlos Santana, before Santana was traded to Seattle last week. There is no clear indications yet that the Mariners are willing to trade him again. … Colorado talked to Arizona about trading for all-star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Bridich confirmed. But the GM added it quickly became clear that the D-backs were not interested in trading Goldschmidt to Colorado. Goldschmidt was traded to St. Louis last week.