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'We Can Definitely Co-Exist': Rockies Nolan Arenado on Jeff Bridich

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (CBS4)- Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado spoke to the media on Monday following the first full-squad workout of spring training.

"It felt good. It felt good to be on the field again wearing cleats and pants and stuff," said Arenado. "I'm really happy to be here and get to work."

Arenado and his much publicized feud with general manager Jeff Bridich have dominated headlines prior to spring training.

Rockies SPring Training 2020-02-17_frame_78254
Nolan Arenado (credit: CBS)

"It's a little surprising how much (attention) it's getting," said Arenado of his feud with Bridich. "I'm here to work, I'm here to play and here to help this team win as many games as a I can."

Arenado has taken issue with the fact that the Rockies didn't many any major free agency moves this offseason. The organization made a conscious approach to rely on the same roster from 2019 with the hopes that players who had down seasons rebound and can get the Rockies back into the postseason like they were in 2017 and 2018.

Despite being upset that the club didn't make any moves, Arenado reiterated support for his teammates.

"The misconception of this whole offseasons is that I don't believe in the group we have here, and that's extremely false," said Arenado. "That's what I've reiterated to my teammates is that that's not where this is coming from. It's coming from a place of wanting to win."

Given the public nature, and how serious the discord seemed to be, there was doubt that Nolan and Bridich could co-exist heading into the 2020 season, but Arenado doesn't think that will be an issue.

"We can definitely co-exist," said Arenado. "I'm here to do a job. They pay me to go out and go play baseball and I'm going to honor that and go out there and compete the best I can."

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