Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado to opt in to remainder of contract

Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado has informed the Cardinals he will be opting into the remainder of his contract. Arenado, who slashed .293/.358/.533 in a 2022 campaign that left him in line to receive consideration for the NL MVP award, will make $144M over the next five years and lock up the hot corner in St. Louis through the end of the 2027 season.

This registers as something of a surprise given Arenado’s MVP caliber 2022. While he’ll play next season at age 32, potentially limiting his odds of adding much in the way of years to his current pact, it’s easy to see how he could have surpassed the average annual value he is currently set to receive; notably, fellow third baseman Anthony Rendon managed to secure an AAV of $35M in his seven-year, $245M contract he signed with the Angels prior to the 2020 season, while Freddie Freeman’s six-year, $162M pact with the Dodgers last offseason exceeds Arenado’s current deal in terms of both years and total value. That being said, Arenado’s comfort in St. Louis and desire to stay long term has been widely reported, so the fact that Arenado will remain in St. Louis isn’t too shocking.

As The Athletic’s Nick Groke mentions, Arenado opting into his contract means that the payment plan the Rockies and Cardinals agreed to at the time of the blockbuster agreement that sent Arenado to St. Louis in exchange for a package including Austin Gomber and four prospects prior to the 2021 season will continue. Said payment plan has Colorado set to pay $31.5M to the Cardinals going forward, including $16M next season, a price higher than any salary on the Rockies payroll in 2023 except for that of Kris Bryant.

This news checks another major task off of the Cardinals offseason to-do list a few days after it was reported that they had re-signed Adam Wainwright for the 2023 season. The Cardinals are expected to have significant room to make additions to their payroll this season, and not having to allocate additional resources to retaining Arenado should allow St. Louis to do more to address other areas of the roster, including finding a replacement for franchise stalwart Yadier Molina, who is retiring alongside Albert Pujols. The starting rotation, where Wainwright will be joined by the likes of Miles Mikolas, Jordan Montgomery, and Jack Flaherty in 2023, and the outfield, where Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, and Lars Nootbaar represent the primary options following Harrison Bader’s trade to New York at the trade deadline, represent other areas where the Cardinals may look to improve.