Nolan Arenado To Remain a Cardinal Through 2027
St. Louis 3B Nolan Arenado will be staying with the Cardinals, as reports surfaced that he has told the organization that he is opting in to the remainder of his 5-year $144M deal. Katie Woo of The Athletic broke the news on Twitter.
The 31 year old Arenado, is coming off a 2022 season where he slashed .293/.358/.531 with 30 HR, 103 RBI, and an .891 OPS. He finished the year a finalist for the Gold Glove at 3B for the 10th consecutive season and won the 2022 Fielding Bible Award for the 5th time (2022, 2020, 2017, 2016 & 2015) which is the most by any 3B since the award’s inception and the first by a Cardinals third baseman. He is a candidate to win the NL MVP alongside teammate Paul Goldschmidt.
Nolan helped St. Louis to a division title this past season, the first time in his 10-year career that he’s been a part of a division winner.
Rumors were swirling after a recent press conference on whether or not Arenado would opt out of his current deal, despite John Mozeliak saying he felt confident that the situation would get resolved soon.
For Arenado to “opt in”, speaks to his selflessness in wanting the organization to have the resources to acquire more talent this offseason to make a strong push in 2023. The same can be said for Adam Wainwright who is coming back next season but deferring $10M of his $17.5M over the next 10 seasons.
“I love the organization, I love my teammates, coaches and trainers," Arenado told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Excited for the future."
The remainder of Arenado’s contract is as follows: 2023: $35M, 2024: $35M, 2025: $32M, 2026: $27M, and 2027: $15M which takes him through his age 36 season.