Nolan Arenado eyed Cardinals long before Rockies departure
Apr 9, 2021, 12:41 PM | Updated: 12:42 pm
It was a heartwarming day in late February 2019 when, during a press conference to announce his eight-year contract extension with the Colorado Rockies, Nolan Arenado started to get choked up.
“It just hit me right now when I saw all my teammates come in. It hits me hard, and I get a little emotional when I see all you guys there for me,” Arenado said at the time.
Fast forward to after Thursday’s home opener for Arenado’s new squad, the St. Louis Cardinals, where it may have been exposed that those tears were of the crocodile variety.
Speaking on his new teammate, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright waxed poetic about the future Hall of Fame third baseman, whose two-run blast propelled St. Louis to an Opening Day win.
“I think I’ve probably said it 10 times already in the dugout, I love that he’s on my team,” Wainwright said of Arenado. “I love it.”
And, if Wainwright’s recollection is correct, Arenado’s feelings for St. Louis may have been mutual long before his departure from Colorado.
“The last year or two, he would send me videos when he was trying to get traded over here,” Wainwright said. “He would say, ‘Show this to (Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak).’
“He would be in the middle of the offseason taking ground balls down the third base line and doing his little jump through from almost the dugout and making perfect throws, one after another.”
What’s fair to assume is Wainwright was trying to illustrate Arenado’s passion for baseball. What came across, however, is almost as soon as the ink dried on his contract extension with the Rockies, Arenado wanted out of Colorado.
Two years later, Arenado’s taking curtain calls in his new digs, where he likely wanted to be all along.
“We’re glad to have him. He’s a winning player. We’ve been with him for two months, and I feel like he’s been here for 10 years,” Wainwright said. “He just fits in this clubhouse so well.”
Sure, there’s plenty of vitriol and disdain to send toward Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich and owner Dick Monfort. But leave a heaping of disgust over this offseason’s blockbuster trade to be shouldered by Arenado.
