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As fans predict the record for the St. Louis Cardinals this upcoming season, there is still an underlying factor that is present with the ballclub. Cardinals star Nolan Arenado has surrounded trade talks this past offseason, but with Spring Training around the corner, he is still on the team with a question mark added to the whole situation,
St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak spoke to the media about the state of the team with a main topic being about the status of Arenado. He would even say that it has been an “oddity” that they have a cloud looming over them being Arenado who they have been unable to trade according to MLB.com.
“It’s an oddity; normally we open this thing feeling really good about what we accomplished in the offseason and then there’s the hope of spring,” Mozeliak said. “But right now, we have this over our heads and it’s what we’re working through.”
There could be a situation where Arenado reports to Spring Training being unhappy due to the fractured relationship between both parties. However, Mozeliak downplays any form of total “awkwardness,” though there could be some to start.
“We’re adults. Would it be awkward? I would imagine there would be a moment of awkwardness, but I still think he’s a professional baseball player and he’s currently a St. Louis Cardinal, and we all understand once you are here, you’re pushing forward,” Mozeliak said. “Would that mean trying to accomplish something during Spring Training? Possibly, but there are no guarantees at that point.”
Cardinals and Nolan Arenado situation goes into Spring Training
The Cardinals' third baseman has preferred destinations since he has a no-trade clause where Arenado even disapproved of a possible deal that would have sent him to the Houston Astros. Mozeliak would speak candidly about the ineffectiveness in trading Arenado to one of his desired teams being listed as the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels, the San Diego Padres, and the Boston Red Sox reportedly.
However, with Boston acquiring star Alex Bregman the other day, the list has now become shorter.
“If you think back to when we started discussing the possibility of trading him, we thought all along that we could probably do something this offseason, but it just hasn’t happened,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, I did not have a large list of teams, and it wasn’t like there were 29 teams I could take him to, so I’m trying to navigate what I could work with. Obviously, it hasn’t moved at the pace many of us had hoped for.”
As the situation looks to reach a finality, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol discusses his perspective on how to approach spring training.
“You operate as if he’s coming to camp, and my conversations with [Arenado] up to this point have been exactly that,” Marmol said. “Until that changes, there is no reason to plan otherwise. So as we stand here today, we have pitchers and catchers here and we’re focused on that. Once we get to the position players being here and a full camp, we’ll address it.”
St. Louis finished last season with an 83-49 record, not making the playoffs for the second straight year as they look to change that hopefully this upcoming season.
