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Nolan Arenado on Tulo trade: 'I don't know any of these dudes we got'

The tenor of the Colorado Rockies clubhouse was understandably foul after news spread that the team had dealt star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays. Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan wrote a column looking behind-the-scenes at how Tulo and his teammates found out he'd be traded north of the border. It was clear nobody in a Rockies uniform was too happy.

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Frustration was still echoing Tuesday afternoon, when third baseman Nolan Arenado, the likely heir to Tulo's face-of-the-franchise throne once the trade deadline passes spoke to the Denver Post. Arenado, 24, seemed upset that Tulowitzki was gone and unimpressed with the Rockies' return in the trade.

He even unleashed his humdinger of a quote to The Denver Post's Patrick Saunders:

"I don't know any of these dudes we got," Arenado said. "But I think if we were going to trade Tulo, I would think it would be for an ace, an established veteran pitcher. Obviously we are starting to rebuild from the ground up."

It's a good thing, we suppose, that Arenado isn't a GM, because the Rockies dealing Tulowitzki wasn't a win-now move that would return an ace pitcher nor should it have been. The Rockies' hope seems to be building a core of good pitchers that can propel the team once Arenado is in his prime. The team got highly touted young fireballers Miguel Castro and Jeff Hoffman from the Blue Jays, plus another pitching prospect, Jesus Tinoco, and veteran shortstop Jose Reyes. And while Reyes isn't an ace pitcher, we're pretty sure Arenado has heard of him.

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The word around baseball is that outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is the next Rockie to be traded before Friday's 4 p.m. ET non-waiver deadline. Arenado foresees that too and is already counting on being upset.

"I do think he will be gone, and I'll be disappointed in that also," Arenado said.

Here's hoping, for Arenado's sake, the Rockies can at least get someone he knows in return for CarGo.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!