UPDATE: The new news goes on top, because holy shit. It really is happening. The cardinals are catching Nolan Arenado.
BREAKING: Cardinals agreed to acquire Rocky Mountain Sandstone Nolan, sources say @TheAthletic. Negotiation pending approval from both the MLB and the players’ union; Rockies sending significant money to the Cardinals, who are believed to be in the $ 50 million range, and Arenado will postpone the money.
– Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 30, 2021
In theory, with so much money included in the Rockies, you would assume that they are really getting a good return from the Cardinals for a star player. But as Cardinals are, I suppose they are giving up very little of what they will miss, and now Arenado will become an absolute superstar for the next six seasons in St. Louis. That suuuuuucks.
Rosenthal suggests the return could include some combination of LHP Austin Gomber, 1B Luken Baker, OF Jhon Torres, RHP Jake Woodford and / or RHP Angel Rondón. I hardly recognize those names, so that’s not a good sign.
The Rocky Mountains really wanted to give Arenado. I mean, they’re supposed to be contributing $ 50 million as well.
So the Cardinals got Arenado on a $ 150 million steal contract for six years for … that? https://t.co/jxoi5lGNzt
– Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 30, 2021
*** Follows the original post from the beginning of tonight. ***
I don’t like the trend, folks. It just became one of those situations where it looks like it’s been put on the tracks – it’s still not an unstoppable train, but it’s rolling.
The cardinals are now “pushing hard” for Nolan Arenado, and are “very determined”:
#STLCards are pushing hard for Nolan Arenado. The word is that they seem very determined. Still, there are complications: he has no trade, although he expects a candidate. He also has an exclusion option after the 2021 season, and Cards certainly prefers the guarantee that he will stay longer.
– Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 30, 2021
In addition, Cardinals President John Mozeliak was asked about Arenado today and, although he did not address a player from another team by name, man, the things he said seemed all kinds of caution.
“There are a lot of rumors going around in the industry right now, and I imagine these things are likely to continue,” Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There’s not much I can add to them, other than recognizing that they’re out there, and in terms of what we’re doing, where we’re going, clearly spring training is coming. As I mentioned a while ago, I thought that January would be more like December. You saw a lot more movement from the player. Certainly some of the things that you probably would have seen in late January will now happen in February….
“As we are now, [our third baseman is] Matt Carpenter. In terms of approaching rumors or free agents, my attitude is always the same. After going down the rabbit hole, you never leave. In terms of how we like our club now – we like our team. But today is January 29th. There is still much time to improve. Baseball is a great industry, right? There is always time to try to improve. The good news is that we have time on our side. “
This is almost an attempt to crush this, or even stay neutral. To me, this sounds like a guy who is in deep and complicated business negotiations. He knows it may not work, because making a deal with so many layers is very difficult. But yes, it is clearly being discussed very seriously.
And, as Heyman hears, the Cardinals really want that to happen. Financially, the Cardinals are likely to make it, as long as they don’t have to take over the full six years and $ 199 million in the Arenado contract (mostly in 2021 – maybe that’s where they send the Carpenter contract). And if Arenado still wants to go as badly as he looked last year, then he will find a way to remove that option.