A team has finally decided to be the best in the NL Central.
The Cardinals were on the verge of acquiring Nolan Arenado of the Rockies on Friday night. Because $ 50 million would move from Colorado to St. Louis and because Arenado would get an extra chance after the 2022 season, in addition to the ones he has after the 2021 season, the deal must be approved by MLB and the Players Association. The hope is that this can already be done on Sunday or Monday and that the trade can be finalized.
If this is the case, it will be the first important import of talent in the NL Central after three months of an off-season in which the talent just flowed outwards.
Josh Bell, Yu Darvish, Raisel Iglesias, Jon Lester, Joe Musgrove, Jose Quintana, Kyle Schwarber, Jameson Taillon and probably at some point Trevor Bauer will leave NL Central. Until Friday, when Adam Wainwright re-signed with the Cardinals and Joc Pederson agreed a deal with the Cubs, the entire division spent less than $ 3 million on free agency. The Reds still have not signed a free league in the league, and Wainwright was the first of the Cardinals.
But now St. Louis on the verge of a seismic move. The Cardinals would send five prospects to the Rockies, but not one of their elite minor players. Over the next six years, $ 199 million is owed to Arenado, and as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports for the first time, he will receive an additional $ 15 million for a seventh year if the deal is completed.
There is a risk beyond the money. Arenado already had the right to resign from his contract after the 2021 season, and now he has the same after 2022, and there has always been a feeling in the game that he would like to have his roots in Southern California. would want to find. St. However, Louis is a baseball-crazy city and players often fall in love with the game in front of such a positive fan base for a regular competitor.
For now, Arenado is a winner if the trade goes through, as he escapes a toxic situation in Colorado. He signed an extension of $ 260 million for eight years after the 2018 season. He believed that the Rockies not only made a commitment to him, but also to try to be multi-year candidates. Arenado thus became frustrated when the team did not continue to invest in the payroll to pursue better players. He ends up in a feud with GM Jeff Bridich and it becomes clear that he wants to divorce.
In the shortened 2020 schedule, Arenado had his worst season, hitting .253 with a .738 OPS while struggling with an injured shoulder. The Cardinals would bet a departure and that Arenado was the player who finished the top eight in the NL MVP vote from 2015-19. Even last year, he won his eighth gold glove in eight years as he crowned himself as one of the best third basemen ever.
For the Rockies, they give a glimpse of their franchise. They are sending so much money to the Cardinals to escape the hardships of the contract, potentially open space to retain the Trevor Story shortstop, who is a free agent after the 2021 season, and are in fact buying prospects, which are expected to pitcher Austin Gomber will include, first baseman Luken Baker and outfielder Jhon Torres.
There is an example in this deal when the Marlins traded Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees after the 2017 season. Both Stanton and Arenado are represented by Joel Wolfe. Both signed mega contracts to stay with the team they drafted in the second round. Both were disillusioned by organizations that would not continue to press after signing it. The Cardinals actually worked out a deal for Stanton, but he invoked a career clause and – like Arenado – hoped to initially land in his roots in Southern California with the Dodgers.
Stanton accepts a trade to the Yankees, withdrawing $ 52 million in savings from the Marlins, who ate $ 30 million and entered the remaining $ 22 million on Starlin Castro’s contract.
This time it was in the Cards for St. Louis to land this kind of star who was looking for a weakened situation.