Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado says Albert Pujols is his favorite player. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The fact that Albert Pujols’ MLB future is unclear is actually somewhat emotional for a lot of current players who grew up watching him in his glory days with the St. Louis Cardinals. One of them, Nolan Arenado, is wearing the Cardinals’ uniform now, and hasn’t forgotten what Pujols meant to him.

At the end of his scheduled media session Friday, Arenado stopped to pay tribute to Pujols, hailing the former Cardinal as his “favorite player.”

It’s easy to forget that players such as Arenado are young enough that they grew up idolizing Pujols. It can make for really cool moments such as this one.

No word on whether Arenado agrees with this characterization of how the Los Angeles Angels treated Pujols, however.

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