ARLINGTON, Texas — Jon Gray felt at home in Denver. He embraced the challenge of pitching at altitude. And he especially loved Coors Field, so much so that he even took his wedding photos there.

But in the end, none of that mattered. It was the Rangers who fought hard for him, offering him a four-year, $56 million deal, millions more than the Rockies did.

“The contract was so good,” Gray said before the Rangers faced the Rockies on Monday. “It felt great to have someone say, ‘We think you are this good and this is why. We are going to help.'”

Until this season, the Rockies were the only organization that he had ever known. He was selected by the team in the first round of the 2013 draft, and played all seven of his major league seasons with the Rockies.

With Gray about to enter free agency, the Rockies had a head start over the rest of the league last year to try to make a deal with him. They started talks in July, and kept him at the trade deadline instead of dealing him. Both sides wanted to find a way to keep Gray in Denver.

But once free agency began in October, it was the Rangers, not the Rockies, that he was in constant communication with. Gray said he knew the Rockies wanted to re-sign him. It was the Rangers, though, that not only offered him the money, but sold him on their vision for the future.

Gray knew that the Rangers, similar to the Rockies, hadn’t made the playoffs the past few seasons. But he felt the Rangers were committed to changing that, spending half a million dollars this offseason to bolster their roster. In addition to Gray, they also signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Kole Calhoun.

“They want to change the whole culture,” Gray told The Gazette. “It was something I really wanted to be a part of. I don’t want to walk out of this game only knowing one thing and wondering if things could have been different.”

As he considered the move to Texas, his relationship with the Rockies grew tense, Gray said, and there was a little bit of fighting between the two sides. The Rockies didn’t match what the Rangers offered, though. If they had, Gray said he may still be in Denver.

“I don’t think I would have been able to make that decision,” he said. “I’d be on the fence.”

Teammates tried to stay out of it, but reminded him how big of a part of the rotation he was. The Rockies had spent years building up their pitching staff, developing Gray, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez into major league pitchers. They too wanted to convince Gray to stay in purple.

After all was said and done, the Rockies accepted his decision, and Gray said he left the organization on good terms. He reunited with his teammates on Monday, with big hugs and lots of smiles.

“It’s part of the business, this stuff happens,” said Freeland, who took Gray out to dinner during the offseason to celebrate his new contract. “He’s going to do great over there. I’m happy for him, but I definitely miss him.”