7 great St. Louis Cardinals who never won a World Series with the team

These were great players who couldn't quite reach the pinnacle of baseball success.
Miami Marlins v St. Louis Cardinals
Miami Marlins v St. Louis Cardinals | Joe Puetz/GettyImages
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3B Nolan Arenado

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are often linked when it comes to recent history for the St. Louis Cardinals. Arenado was brought to St. Louis just two years after Goldschmidt via trade. The Cardinals sent Austin Gomber, Mateo Gil, Tony Locey, Elehuris Montero, and Jake Sommers to the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies would also send $51 million to the Cardinals to help offset Arenado's large contract.

Arenado, one of the best third basemen in the league upon his arrival to St. Louis, continued his streak of superb defense and potent offense. In his first year with the Cardinals, Arenado slashed .255/.312/.494 with 34 home runs and 105 runs batted in. He followed that up in 2022 with a third-place finish in NL MVP voting.

In 2024, Nolan Arenado posted a slash line of .293/.358/.533 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs. His Gold Glove that year continued a streak of 10 straight seasons winning the award, and he won the Silver Slugger at third base that year as well. Arenado's 2022 season was fantastic, but he just couldn't perform in the postseason as a Cardinal.

Nolan Arenado recorded just one hit in 12 at-bats in the postseason as a Cardinal. This lack of postseason success for a future Hall of Famer is a stain on his reputation, and it was a contributing factor to the Cardinals' bowing out early in both of his postseason appearances with St. Louis.

Nolan Arenado will probably be voted into the Hall of Fame. He, like Paul Goldschmidt, saw plenty of success early in his Cardinals career. However, Father Time and an inability to show up when the games mattered most in October prevented him from winning a World Series with the Cardinals. With a high likelihood of him being traded this offseason, the Nolan Arenado era in St. Louis will pass with nary a postseason victory to show for it.

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