According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Nolan Arenado, the five-time All-Star and third career in the Colorado Rockies, is after the St. Louis Cardinals trades. fourth place in the National League West.
BREAKING: Cardinals agree to acquire Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, sources say @TheAthletic. Trade pending approval of both MLB and players union; The Rockies are sending the Cardinals significant cash, apparently $ 50 million, and Arenado will defer money.
– Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) 30 January 2021
With just two years on a $ 260 million contract for eight years, the trade brings an offensive life for the Cardinals, who finished last in the NL Series in runs in a shortened 2020 season, along with the best third defense of the game for almost a decade.
[Batter up: Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for free today]
In return, the Rockies freed themselves from most of the $ 199 million salary, adopted by the Cardinals, over the next six seasons. As for other players in return, Colorado’s return is currently unknown.
Industry sources expect a portion of Arenado’s salary to be deferred. The Cardinals’ only two major contracts after 2021 belong to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and pitcher Miles Mikolas. Prior to trading, Arenado waived a non-trading clause. In accordance with the terms of his contract, Arenado may also decide after 2021 to become a free agent, which could also be addressed during trade talks.
Tommy Edman and veteran Matt Carpenter shared time on third base last season. Edman also played a decent number of games on second base and right field and would replace free agent Kolten Wong in second place. Carpenter, 35, is in the final guaranteed season of his contract and batted .186 last summer.
Goldschmidt, who at the same time agreed to Arenado and the Rockies with a $ 130 million contract extension with the Cardinals for five years, beat the Cardinals for the first time in his two seasons, ahead of Brad Miller.
He will probably now be protected by Arenado, who led the NL three times in the home runs and hit more than 40 home runs three times. Three times he drove in at least 130 runs. He finishes in the top six of the NL in MVP voting from 2016 to 2019. The curiosity with Arenado, as with all Rockies players, is how they would fare from the heat-friendly Coors Field. In his career, he has hit a .322 hit with a .985 OPS in home games, .263 and .793. In recent years, DJ LeMahieu has answered the same questions by having two of the best seasons in his career as the New York Yankee.
Arenado’s Rockies relationship falls apart
And now, without the player who is at his best and stands close to Todd Helton, Larry Walker and Troy Tulowitzki as the best in franchise history, the Rockies return to the first division in their history. They will do so without their best player in the last six years, and one of the best players in the game. Their most productive player last season – the shortstop Trevor Story – will become a free agent after this season. The team is also, in areas of talent, plan and leadership, miles behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in its division.
When Arenado agreed to the massive extension of the contract, he looked like he had the assurance of competitive roster moves and payroll. It looks like he’s expecting a general leader at the Dodgers, who buried the NL West years and finally won their World Series in 2020. By last spring, when it became clear that the Rockies would be overrun again, Arenado was already disillusioned.
He then spoke of a ‘break’ between him and the club, while also promising his full commitment to everything that lies ahead. In mid-February, after not training with the team but on his own, he told Yahoo Sports:
‘You know what, and I want you to please write it down, my perception at the moment, some people have different things, right? It’s: ‘Oh, you make money, keep your mouth shut. You signed this agreement and this and that. “But at the end of the day, people, people misunderstand. We as players only get one chance for this. I only get one chance at this. I still have seven years left. I do not know how it will all turn out. And I want to win.
‘I’ve been to All-Star Games before. I did some special things, you know? I won gold gloves. It all means a lot to me. At the end of the day, the goal is to win. They drew me to win. And I want to be a winner. If it’s in Colorado or somewhere else, I want to win.
It’s coming to a point in your career. You’re like, ‘OK, what else is there to do? I just want to win. I want to play in October. ‘Like Derek Jeter, he made the Hall of Fame, he played in a season’s playoffs. It’s a unique situation, of course, and I’m not saying I’ll ever get it, because what he did was special. But I want it. I’ve only been to the playoffs a few times. Honestly, I did not play well in it. And I want it again. I want to have the opportunity to show what I can do. You know?”
As it turns out, he would play another season in Colorado, which was shortened to 60 games by the pandemic and further limited by a shoulder injury he sustained in late July. He played in only 48 of those games, after Sept. 19. Now he’s healthy again and he’s a cardinal, a team that generally insists on winning or trying, which is probably all he ever wanted, everything he ever asked for.
More from Yahoo Sports: