Nolan Arenado is an eight-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and many in the baseball world believe the star third baseman is well on his way to having a plaque in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
One thing he hasn't accomplished is postseason success with just five postseason hits in 33 at-bats over 13 seasons.
He hopes a move to the young Arizona Diamondbacks
can change that trend.“I still want to play in the playoffs,” Arenado said.
“I know my numbers aren't great, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I was prepared for it and that I've always been prepared for it. I just haven't played the way I expected.”
“I want the opportunity to do it again and I don't see why this group can't do that,” he added. "That's why I was really open to playing here. My expectations are still high.”
It's no surprise Arenado was traded on Tuesday from the rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals, considering they had shopped him extensively for more than a year. Still, the end came quickly. Now he joins a franchise trying to make the postseason for the first time since a run to the World Series in 2023.
“I was kind of in shock, because this process has been going on for a little while, so it was like ‘Man, I can’t believe we're finally getting to this place,'” Arenado said.
Arenado — who turns 35 in April — will be playing for his third MLB team after five years with the Cardinals and the first eight with the Colorado Rockies. He said his departure from the Cardinals was amicable and he had good conversations with the team's president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, even if the process dragged on longer than both sides had hoped.
Bloom has made it clear that St. Louis — which finished 78-84 last season — is in rebuilding mode.
“It was very evident that there was a step they needed to take in letting these young guys go, finding out who they are and who their identity is and I was just kind of in the way of that in a sense,” Arenado said. “But I loved my time there.”
Arenado wasn't the offensive force he used to be last season, batting .237 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs, but he provides experience and above-average defense at third base after the D-backs dealt slugger Eugenio Suárez at last season’s trade deadline.
The right-handed slugger also believes he can have a bounce-back season at the plate.
Arenado said he's already sent hitting video to several D-backs coaches as they try to get a head start on spring training. He'll join a young, speedy lineup that includes Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo.
“I expect to go out and help this team win on both sides," Arenado said. "I know the last few years haven't gone the way I wanted. Obviously, dealt with some injuries and different things, but I think some of the adjustments I'm trying to make ... they're going to pay dividends down the line.”
Taking a gamble on Arenado's potential late-career renaissance makes sense for the D-backs, particularly because it's a relatively low-cost move. Arenado is owed $42 million over the next two seasons, but the Cardinals are still paying $31 million of his salary as part of the deal.
“We’ve always liked the way he’s played the game and the impact he can have when he’s not playing,” Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said Tuesday. “I think he’s a good fit. I know how much winning means to him and is important to him — and it’s important to us.”
Arenado waived a no-trade provision to accept the deal.
The Southern California native said he expanded the list of teams he would accept a trade to this offseason, adding the Diamondbacks and a few other teams to a list that brought the total to roughly eight to 10 teams. He said that was up from five or six destinations he would have accepted a trade to during the previous offseason.
Now in the final years of his career, he's ready to provide leadership to a D-backs team hungry to improve after a disappointing 80-82 season in 2025.
He also believes he's got a lot of good baseball in front of him.
“I'm not a very vocal person, I'm pretty quiet and try not to talk a whole lot," Arenado said. “I feel like when I do, hopefully it can reach people. I try to show who I am by the way I work — the way I go about my business.”
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