After waiting a few days for their complicated deal to be finalized, the Cardinals and Rockies completed their third-round deal. Nolan Arenado, Bob Nightengale from USA Today reports. The league and the union signed the swap. The Rockies will be left-handed Austin Gomber, third baseman Mateo Gil, attacker Elehuris Montero and right-handers Tony Locey and Jake Sommers in exchange for Arenado, per Mark Feinsand from MLB.com. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier Gomber’s place in the deal Ken Rosenthal and Nick Groke of The Athletic tweeted that Gil would be in it.
The two teams agreed in principle to this trade last Friday, but it was held out over the weekend because they worked out finances and which players would be involved. St. Louis now gets one of the leading innings of the game, and the team will reportedly add another year and $ 15 million to Arenado’s contract. As such, it will be signed at $ 214MM until 2027. The Rockies will withdraw $ 51 million, including some postponements, according to Feinsand.
Along with the added value for his deal, Arenado will be able to act after one of the next two seasons (the Cardinals added the second opt-out as part of the deal; most of the money the Rox owes will be after the opt-in). -outs, add Feinsand). Given the concessions the Cardinals are making, it’s no surprise that Arenado has waived its non-trade clause to become part of the club. It helps, of course, that the Cardinals look better equipped to compete for a playoff spot than the Rockies, who have seen their relationship with Arenado deteriorate over the past year. The Rockies, for whom Arenado played from 2013-20, earned berths in 2017 and ’18, but have since fallen apart. Arenado, dissatisfied with the team’s inactivity in free agencies, was part of trade rumors last season and even accused general manager Jeff Bridich of treating him with respect.
The Bridies-led Rockies are now erasing most of Arenado’s contract from the books, but they are also losing a franchise type who won eight gold gold gloves and picked up five All-Star nods in their uniform. The 29-year-old Arenado annually mixes well above-average offense with an excellent defense as a Rockie, though his production on the record dropped during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Over 201 record appearances, Arenado has beaten a worst career of .253 / .303 / .434 – of a lifetime .293 / .343 / .541. Arenado walked (almost) as much as he hit (20), and a batting average of 241 on balls in play hurt his case, but his Statcast numbers also dropped.
The Cardinals undoubtedly consider the decline of Arenado in 2020 as a small example. He now takes over at the hot corner for the club in place of Matt Timmerman and Tommy Edman, the Cardinals’ most important third base pick last year. Both Carpenter and Edman also have a second base experience so they can disappear the keystone next season Kolten Wong exits in free agency. However, it is possible that the Cardinals would rather find a way to get Carpenter, a former standout whose production was weak from 2019-20, weak. That may not be feasible, given the 35-year-old’s sudden decline, the $ 20.5 million he would pay in 2021 (including a $ 2 million buyout for ’22) and his protection without trade.
To bolster their situation in third place, the Cardinals are splitting up with some of their top-30 farm workers, though it appears the Rockies are not getting any blue-chip talent back. Baseball America Montero finished 14th, Locey 26th and Gil 28th in the Cardinals system before the trade.
Montero, which was BA’s 81st position in the sport in 2019, made its pro debut in 2015 and reached the Double-A level in 2019. While struggling there, the 22-year-old usually produced above average. BA less than minors, BA wrote last season that Montero is a ‘physical, strong hit with excellent hand-eye coordination, batting speed and plus raw power.’ Defensively, Montero’s future could be on first base.
Locey, a third-round pick in 2019, split his draft year between rookie and single-A level. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen placed Locey in 16th place in the Cardinals system a year ago and wrote that he could be a relief because his speed mixes well with short periods.
Gil, son of former main body Benji Gil, who mostly played rookie ball, goes back to his first taste of pro-action in 2018. Longenhagen wrote in 2020 that the 20-year-old has ‘low-end regular upside’.
Sommers, 23, is the only prospect the Rox will get back who was not in the top 30 of the Cardinals during the deal. He is a 10th-round pick from 2019 who threw 51 2/3 overs of 4.18 ERA ball and hit more than one batter per innings at rookie level during his draft year.
The 27-year-old Gomber is the only player with vast league experience heading to Colorado in this trade. Gomber, a fourth player in 2014, reached the major for the first time in 2018 and has since been more than 104 overs for the Cardinals. He plays a lifetime of 3.72 ERA, though he was even better than last year with 29 frames of 1.86 ERA ball (mostly in relief). While Gomber ended the season with below-average figures in the knockout percentage (22.7), running percentage (12.6) and SIERA (4.82), he intends to earn a role in 2021 as part of Colorado’s yard staff. He is not on course to be eligible for arbitration until after 2022 and is not scheduled for free agency until the end of the 2025 season.
All told, this is one of the most striking industries in recent baseball history. It is also an indication that two teams are going in opposite directions. The Cardinals, who went to the playoffs for the second consecutive year in 2020, are clearly going for it in a wide-open National League Central. On the other hand, the Rockies seem to realize that in the short term they have little chance of competing as part of a NL West led by seriously competitive reigning world series champion Dodgers and the emerging Padres.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.