Arenado Opts In
Earlier this week, John Mozeliak mentioned that he met with star 3B Nolan Arenado about the future of the ballclub and Arenado's looming opt out. Mozeliak, whether connected to Arenado's impending decision, stated the Cardinals will be increasing payroll for 2023 and that he hoped to have a decision from Arenado by Monday.
Well that decision came early as Katie Woo of The Athletic tweeted that Arenado will be opting in. This means that he will be under contract for the next 5 seasons.
Let's look at the breakdown of Arenado's contract, which now goes through the 2027 season. Numbers are courtesy of Spotrac.
2023: $35 million
2024: $35 million
2025: $32 million
2026: $27 million
2027: $15 million (this year was added when the Cardinals acquired and restructured Arenado's contract, which gave him that player opt out he just declined to use).
The Cardinals are in a win now mode with both Arenado and Goldy under contract for the next two seasons. My belief is that Mozeliak sees the urgency of improving the team as he has already said that they will be acquiring a catcher from outside the organization and will be improving payroll.
I'm glad that Arenado is back and I'm eager to see how Mozeliak & Co. structures the 2023 team.