Cardinals' Nolan Arenado falls flat in front of potential suitor in spring training

The St. Louis Cardinals made the trip across Florida to Tampa Bay to play against the New York Yankees on Wednesday afternoon.

Headlines abounded in the matinee matchup against two of baseball's most historic franchises. Former Cardinal Paul Goldschmidt, who signed with the Yankees this offseason to be their first baseman, was hitting cleanup for the Yanks. Goldy, who spent his last six years with the Cardinals, departed the team via free agency this winter after the Cardinals opted not to re-sign him. Instead, Willson Contreras is moving to first base for St. Louis.

The second storyline between these two teams centers around Nolan Arenado. After months of speculation, rumors, and a near-trade, Arenado remains with the Cardinals as spring training begins to pick up steam.

St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak made it clear that trading Nado was his primary goal all offseason. This goal wasn't to appease Arenado necessarily, as the future Hall of Famer never officially requested a trade. Rather, Mozeliak was aiming to trade Arenado to shed some payroll per the request of ownership.

A trade never culminated, and Arenado is still a Cardinal...at least for now.

When speaking to media upon his arrival to camp, Nolan Arenado doubled down on the reports that he has a list of five teams that he would accept a trade to play for. He didn't list the teams, but it's been long assumed that the list includes the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, and the New York Yankees.

If Arenado wants to take matters into his own hands even more, putting on a show in a spring exhibition game for one of his suitors would go a long way.

It's not often that veterans travel over three hours to play spring training games. Instead, road games are often saved for young players itching to log innings and plate appearances to boost their Opening Day stock. That was mostly evident in the Cardinals' starting lineup on Wednesday that featured players like Masyn Winn, Ivan Herrera, Jordan Walker, Thomas Saggese, Matt Koperniak, and Michael McGreevy getting the pill.

However, Arenado was placed smack in the cleanup spot for a road game hours away from the club's home site in Palm Beach.

Arenado's presence shouldn't be too much of a mystery. He is close friends with Paul Goldschmidt and Yankees' third baseman DJ LeMahieu, and both manager Oli Marmol and Nolan himself made it clear that he wants regular reps.

Nolan Arenado fell flat against the New York Yankees during Wednesday's spring training game.

In an exhibition game against the Yankees, Nolan Arenado went 0-3 with two strikeouts. In his first at-bat against right-hander Will Warren, Arenado took a fastball down the middle for the first strike. He then swung and missed at an 83-MPH sweeper down and away and then whiffed at a high fastball to be sent back to the dugout.

In his second at-bat, Arenado swung and missed at a sinker from Mark Leiter Jr. for the first pitch. He then hit a splitter back up the middle at just 66.4 MPH off the bat to second baseman Jazz Chisholm. In Arenado's final at-bat, he went down in four pitches after whiffing on a 1-2 fastball down the heart of the plate.

At this point in his career, Arenado is aiming to prove that his output in the last two seasons was a fluke. His offensive numbers across the board have nose-dived, and he's looking to turn back the clock a little in 2025. Defensively, Arenado still has plenty of value; however, it's his offense that he needs to prove is above average.

While spring training games should be taken with a grain of salt, Arenado's start to the circuit has been uninspiring thus far. He is 1-7 with two strikeouts and no walks. The Cardinals will need much more out of their Gold Glover and former All-Star if they wish to contend in 2025.