GREELEY — A little over an hour after Rockies owner Dick Monfort took the podium at the annual Friends of Baseball breakfast to predict a franchise-record 94 wins this season, he backed up his belief in his team with a vote of confidence for general manager Jeff Bridich.

Monfort also downplayed the rift between Bridich and Nolan Arenado, saying it’s been “blown out of proportion” and that he believes the all-star third baseman — whom has been the subject of trade calls this winter — will be with the Rockies come spring training.

“Jeff was the general manager in ’17 and ’18, and the Rockies have been in back-to-back playoffs once in the history of this organization,” Monfort said. “I guess sometimes it’s nice to weigh the bad, but do (the critics) ever sprinkle it in with some of the accomplishments (Bridich) has made?”

As for the differences between Bridich and Arenado — a rift rooted in Arenado’s public comments about the Rockies’ disappointing 2019 that reportedly did not sit well with the general manager — Monfort said he’s spoken with Arenado by text and isn’t worried.

Monfort also doesn’t see Arenado’s vent about feeling “disrespected” by Bridich as a cause for concern heading into spring training.

“(People forget) that Jeff was with Nolan in Triple-A and Double-A because he was the farm director at that time, and when you’re coming up through the ranks, there’s some tough love along the way,” Monfort said. “I think there’s issues, but I think the Nolan and Jeff issue is down the pecking list.”

The issues Monfort speaks of are the basis for many fans’ ire toward Bridich and the front office overall. Those issues are also why Coors Field faithful are less than optimistic that the Rockies can turn it around from a 91-loss season with a nearly identical roster heading into this year.

Colorado is the only club to have spent $0 in major league free agency this offseason, although its payroll will increase slightly in 2020. Last year, the Rockies had a franchise-record $156.6 million payroll, which ranked 12th in the majors.

Monfort, echoing the same sentiment he expressed at his end-of-season address in October, said the multi-year contracts Colorado committed to over the past several years (Arenado, German Marquez, Daniel Murphy, Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, Ian Desmond) left the club in a position where spending on the open market wasn’t an option.

“Our payroll went up organically about $10 million this year, and Nolan is a big part of that — he went up $9 million,” Monfort said. “So, we knew a year ago we needed this group to compete because it was probably the group we’re going to have (in 2020).

“We also knew we have a lot of contracts rolling off at the end of this year. Financially, especially when we signed Nolan last spring, we were sort of tied in (to the current roster). It was either trading some big names or some moves like that, or going with what we have.”

Monfort, Bridich and the Rockies elected the latter, and the owner can understand why that rankles both his franchise player and the fans who consistently make Coors Field one of the top-attended ballparks in baseball. Related Articles Rockies lose to A’s, 3-1, as playoff hopes fade

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“Nolan’s a very competitive guy — he wants to win, and last year was hard on all of us,” Monfort said. “I think a lot of last year is on his mind, and if we’re going to have a bad team this year. We really didn’t do anything in the offseason, so if you don’t make a lot of changes, (he’s probably wondering) if we’re going into the same thing.

“People can say inactivity by the Rockies means we’re not doing everything we can. And that’s fair. But we do have to live within our means (of responsible payroll growth).”

As for Arenado’s future with the club beyond the Cactus League, Monfort said he “can’t guarantee anything” on how long the third baseman stays with Colorado. Arenado has an opt-out in his contract following the 2021 season.

But Monfort did say that Arenado hasn’t directly asked him for a trade, and that his presence in LoDo past the July 31 trade deadline isn’t necessarily contingent on Colorado being in the playoff race. Monfort also dismissed the notion of a possible trade of Arenado to the Chicago Cubs for third baseman Kris Bryant.

“I would hope that we are competing, and there will be something we can add come the trade deadline, not subtract,” Monfort said.