DENVER — This is the worst sunset Coors Field has ever seen.

This was the worst day in the Rockies’ baseball history.

If there was any question about why you go to Coors Field, it was answered Friday, when the Rockies agreed to trade Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals. You go for the sunsets. You don’t go to see a real, live, competent Major League Baseball operation. Not then, not now.

And not after the Rockies agreed to trade the best player in club history. Definitely not after that. The Rockies are trading Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals, according to The Athletic, for a mix of prospects and blah, blah, blah. Whatever. Throw in the Royal Gorge, Gunnison River and a dispensary while you’re at it. It’s not enough.

Hope you took a good look at the great No. 28.

We didn’t see him for long enough.

Arenado’s ugly exit is the first sunset at 20th and Blake no one here will post on Instagram.

The Rockies are the Casa Bonita of baseball. You go for the atmosphere, not the main course.

The case can be made, and will be made, that the Rockies are making the right move at this juncture. They are an organization screaming for a rebuild, and the kind of haul that a future Hall of Famer like Arenado would demand. But that’s not the point here. The point is that the Rockies are trading Arenado, and throwing in $50 million for the Cardinals to offset his $260 million contract and please take him away, because of their own mistakes. That’s what is sad. That’s what was painfully avoidable.

The Rockies are trading Arenado because they burned $70 million on Ian Desmond. Because they torched $106 million on a bad bullpen. Because they preferred Daniel Murphy over DJ LeMahieu, a future American League MVP. Don’t let them blame revenue losses from COVID-19 for why they sought an escape from Arenado’s monster contract. Don’t buy that baloney.

The Rockies are trading Arenado because of their own incompetence. They burned the single bridge a mid-market franchise can’t afford to burn — the bridge of trust between front office and best player. They ticked off a hard-working, competitive, historically awesome third baseman because of their own hubris. The Rockies chose GM Jeff Bridich over 3B Nolan Arenado. Let that sink in for a moment. Then pour another drink.

The Rockies general manager should apply for a job at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or as a Colorado meteorologist. They are the three jobs you can keep despite being wrong over and over again.

Only the Rockies could ruin a Colorado summer.

The Monforts should sell the franchise, but you already knew that. At this rate, Rocktober will be a fun story to tell the great-great-grandkids.

This is a good thing for Nolan. It’s not Los Angeles, where I always figured the SoCal native would end up. And he’s going to hate living in St. Louis, but that’s true for anyone sentenced to St. Louis. It’s a good thing for Nolan in that he gets to play for a franchise that thinks World Series on a year-in, year-out basis.

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Photo gallery: Nolan Arenado’s career with the Colorado Rockies

No idea what the Rockies have been thinking the past two years. They talked Arenado into a huge contract with the understanding they would strengthen the roster around him. They did not strengthen the roster around him. They strengthened the notion they are utterly out of ideas on how to win at elevation. For the record, I don’t believe that’s possible, but it’s definitely not possible when you mess up things so badly that trading Nolan Arenado makes sense.

This offseason they added nothing to their big league roster. Last offseason they added a reliever, and I can’t remember his name.

Apologies to what’s-his-name.

The Rockies should apologize to the 2,993,244 fans who attended games at Coors Field in 2019. Only five teams in all of MLB drew more.

But those fans should know by now they are buying tickets to a gorgeous Colorado sunset.

Arenado won eight Gold Gloves in eight seasons. He’s a five-time All-Star. He is all baseball, all the time. His Father’s Day walk-off cycle to beat the Giants made for the perfect Sunday afternoon in LoDo. He made “SportsCenter” Top 10 plays pedestrian, every day. His glove is as good as I’ve seen, and probably will ever see.

And he’s gone from the Rockies, who paid for Nolan Arenado to go away. Some sunset.