Legendary third baseman could be playing in front of home crowd for the final time

As the final handful of games are on the horizon for the St. Louis Cardinals, they are headed one of two directions. One possibility is to push for .500 as the organization could look to a non-losing record as a way to build confidence into next season. The other, and more likely, scenario is that the Cardinals struggle against playoff contenders and improve their place in the draft lottery odds after midseason news came that they were still eligible for a high pick.

Nolan Arenado could be playing his final home game as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Even with the Cardinals out of the playoff picture and a handful of young players working their way into the discussion for next season's roster, the team activated veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado from the injured list for the final dozen games of the year. The fact that Arenado played any games with St. Louis this year was surprising, as the team said it was priority one, two, and three to move on from the expensive veteran. Even with the down seasons the past two years, the trade that brought Arenado to St. Louis has to be seen as a massive win for the Cardinals, considering the prospect capital and money committed to him during his stay.

While he was not the same player he was when he was playing for the Rockies, Arenado still managed to grab three All-Star selections, two Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and a third-place finish in the NL MVP votes. Through his four seasons (plus 150 games this year), Arenado hit 116 homers and added 140 doubles while driving 415 RBI, which included two seasons of at least 103 runs batted in. His last three seasons saw Arenado put up a 2.2 bWAR or lower, which could be the only limiting factor to his enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As Arenado's career with the Cardinals comes to a close, I would expect that the St. Louis faithful send him out on a high note. Even though it has been frustrating to watch his lack of power or production this season, there have been moments of excitement, especially on the defensive side, that made it fun to watch Arenado again. It has been announced that the 13-year star would be inserted back into the near-everyday lineup as he finishes out the season, but I would expect there to be a couple more off days built in than usual.

There is not much left for the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals left to play for this season, but Nolan Arenado plans to give the Best Fans in Baseball one more chance to see him don Cardinal red one more time at Busch Stadium. While it is not a guarantee that he is dealt from the Cardinals this season, it appears that both sides see the writing on the wall and will revisit trade talks this offseason.