Nolan Arenado opens up about the dramatic fall for the St. Louis Cardinals

When Nolan Arenado came to St. Louis in 2021, he joined the Cardinals in hopes of winning a championship. He, along with Adam Wainwright and Paul Goldschmidt, would be wise veterans on an otherwise youthful roster in search of division titles and National League pennants.

The Cardinals made two postseason trips with Arenado at the hot corner. They didn't win a single game in either visit to the Fall Classic, and the downfall began in 2023.

The Cardinals would go 232-254 over the next three seasons, miss the postseason in three straight seasons, and watch the decline of not only two future Hall of Famers in Goldschmidt and Arenado but also the organization.

Arenado, while still displaying his usual defensive skills with aplomb, saw his offense decline. He went from finishing third in National League MVP voting in 2022 to finishing 2025 with an 87 OPS+, thus making him a below-average hitter for the first time since his rookie year (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season).

Former St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado opens up about the club's downfall.

In a recent conversation with the folks at Foul Territory, Nolan Arenado opened up regarding the Cardinals' fall from grace. Erik Kratz asked Arenado if he expected the team's dynamics to change as quickly as it did following the retirements of Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. Arenado responded in a very open way.

"I thought we were going to be good," said Arenado. "I think the Cardinals have always found a way to be good, even when on paper it may not look like they're going to be great.

"I think I didn't expect this turnaround to be the way it has been. I thought (2023) was extremely tough...so that was extremely disappointing. I think change has happened fast," said Arenado in a search for the right words. He spoke of how unexpected the 2023 season was and how quickly things began to sour after that year.

He mentioned the new balanced schedule and the fact that they played their division opponents less than they used to as potential reasons for the club's fall from grace, but he wasn't willing to commit to those as the primary reasons.

In a tell-all piece, Katie Woo of The Athletic pulled the curtain back on the Cardinals' downfall. A lack of supplemental coaches in the minors paired with a financial focus on the major-league squad took valuable resources away from the player development pipeline, something that helped the Cardinals be so successful throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Arenado was traded earlier this month to the Arizona Diamondbacks. His intentions, once again, are to join a winning team as he enters the twilight of his career. Him accepting a trade to the desert freed the Cardinals of his onerous salary and his declining offense. It will be strange to not see a Gold Glover at the hot corner for the Cardinals in 2026, but there's hope that he'll be able to return to form following an offseason of work.

The Cardinals' sudden and dramatic downfall following the 2022 season will be studied for many years to come. For Nolan Arenado, the fall from grace is equal parts disappointing as it is baffling.