A look back on the Cardinals’ Goldschmidt-Arenado Era and how it almost didn’t happen

Perhaps there would be more appreciation for the time Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt spent in St. Louis together if there was a more widespread realization that it very nearly didn’t happen.

Greasing the wheels to get Arenado to the Cardinals was a multi-year process, at times pushed hard by Yadier Molina among others, and may have started even before he signed his mega extension with the Colorado Rockies. When the rubber hit the road following the 2020 season and Arenado’s relationship with Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich had deteriorated beyond repair, it still took months of cajoling to figure out the financial package.

In the days before the deal was announced but after it had been reported as imminent, there was still intense negotiating to be done. The player, the teams, and the Players’ Association had to reach an agreement around the present-day value of the contract, and it took Arenado stepping in personally to accept additional deferred payments from the Cardinals – without interest – to get the deal across the goal line.

It would not be the last time he took steps to remain in St. Louis. Paired with Goldschmidt, the two formed a formidable duo of arguably the top pairing of corner infielders in baseball in 2021 and 2022.

And then, nothing.

Goldschmidt signed a free agent deal with the New York Yankees on Saturday, officially drawing their shared time in St. Louis to a close. Arenado will follow his first baseman out of town in the coming days or weeks; his decision to veto a trade to Houston won’t be the end of the story, and there is every expectation that the Cardinals will still find an acceptable trade partner.

Perhaps that partner will be the Yankees and the two will be reunited. Perhaps it will be on the west coast somewhere, bringing Arenado closer to home despite his agent’s protestations that geography is not a requirement. Wherever it is, it’s a near certainty that it will be somewhere. The horse is out of the barn, the road has been too well-traveled.

In retrospect, the end of the duo’s story as Cardinals was inevitable as early as eleven months ago, when president of baseball operations John Mozeliak balked at the possibility of exploring an extension with Goldschmidt before the 2024 season got underway. Weeks later, standing at his locker in Florida, Arenado spoke to reporters after one of his first full workouts at the facility and spoke somewhat ruefully of a clubhouse that, in his estimation, had tilted a little too far toward youth during a misspent 2023.

That day in February was perhaps the first sign that things were pointed toward a departure at third base as well as first. It was an odd assertion, given that the last-place Cardinals were actually among the league’s oldest teams. And while reporters aren’t in the clubhouse after the doors are closed, those who were there every day when the doors were opened struggled to rectify Arenado’s belief with what they saw.

There was of course a great deal of excitement and energy around Jordan Walker’s debut that season and his early success, but no one could accuse the soft-spoken prospect of being a clubhouse disturbance, and there’s never been any indication that Arenado was accusing him of anything of the sort. But it was that sort of uncanniness – who on earth is he talking about? – that was seemingly impossible to reconcile.

In the midst of that 2023 summer, approaching a deadline at which the Cardinals were stripping off parts and pieces, reports from Los Angeles claimed that the Dodgers were pushing the Cardinals to deal their third baseman. It’s unclear what the genesis or purpose of those reports was; there was never a chance of a deal being done at that time, and the reports to the contrary only served to agitate Arenado in the midst of an already frustrating season.

As the deadline approached and the situation threatened to boil over, Arenado started to leave the clubhouse after a game one night after saying he only wanted to answer questions about that night’s game. He then stopped, marched back to his locker, and patiently denied that he was pushing to leave or that he really wanted to at all. If the business of baseball was back in his view, it was clearly against his wishes.

It’s ironic – or maybe fitting – that the conversation which will turn out to have spelled the end of his time in St. Louis came back in Colorado, during the Cardinals’ last road trip of the season. By then, the decision had been made to make deep cuts to payroll and pump up the player development apparatus. There was no more competing planned for the last three years of his deal, and if he wanted out, the Cardinals would be both understanding and accommodating.

With both Arenado and Goldschmidt on the roster, the Cardinals played in three playoff games and lost them all. In those three games, the two combined for just two hits – one single apiece. If there were disappointments and failures in those playoff years, they centered on the offense, and they were at its center. There was clearly not enough done to augment the roster over the last four years, but that showed up so glaringly in part because they got nothing at all from the 2022 NL MVP (Goldschmidt) and third place finisher (Arenado).

Now, with their time here coming to a close, the fan base has seemingly turned from disappointment to ambivalence. Recently, in conversation with a fan, she commented that she was sad to see both go. That sentiment was jarring because it was the first time I’d heard it put directly, especially in contrast to the overwhelming vitriol.

It did not work out in St. Louis for Arenado and Goldschmidt, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a privilege to watch them try. Perhaps whatever anger exists now is only an outgrowth of the excitement of their arrival. The less people care, the more ambivalence creeps in. That, more than anything, would be a red flag for the franchise’s health.