Nothing against Arenado - he is naturally declining as he ages

[bfib]

He has to go. It’s the most important move this team must make.

We can’t truly move forward until this is done

One way or another. You cannot let him play another year here. It serves no purpose whatsoever. He needs to be released if necessary. His contract is a sunk cost.

It’s terrible optics to DFA him, but if that’s what you have to do then do it. I still imagine you can find a home for him if you eat 3/4 of the money, but you have to first go to him and say if you don’t accept the trade we are able to make again then we are going to DFA you.

Caring about optics is for losers. The only caring should be about winning, and Arenado is not going to be part of the future here in a reset or whatever you want to call it.

I 100% agree, but I know DeWitt cares deeply about it. He doesn’t want to further upset the fans and he’ll think it will make the club unattractive for future players. It would be best to make the trade, but if you can’t or he won’t then do what you have to do

[Lefley 25]

In this day and age if you sign or trade for a high priced player that contract goes to or past 34 or so it’s a high risk in decline possibilities for the cost for some reason
I assume the days of players like Brock , Gibson etc. are over
But then again back in those days a team didn’t have 25 million a year invested or whatever those dollars were back then?

[ramfandan]

In this day and age if you sign or trade for a high priced player that contract goes to or past 34 or so it’s a high risk in decline possibilities for the cost for some reason
I assume the days of players like Brock , Gibson etc. are over
But then again back in those days a team didn’t have 25 million a year invested or whatever those dollars were back then?

The contract that goes to or past 34 you mentioned may be exactly what the Cardinals may face with Brendan Donovan. He has 2 years remaining til becoming a free agent. He will be 30 years old then .
Some will say..oh just sign him for 2 or 3 years.
Sounds good but as a star productive player his agent will want a 4 or 5 year big bucks deal . Sure Cards can say NO but the you lose him to FA for a measly draft pick.
That’s why the Cards will listen to offers . They may want to get a haul for him prior to him reaching FA two years from now.

[2ninr]

In this day and age if you sign or trade for a high priced player that contract goes to or past 34 or so it’s a high risk in decline possibilities for the cost for some reason
I assume the days of players like Brock , Gibson etc. are over
But then again back in those days a team didn’t have 25 million a year invested or whatever those dollars were back then?

The contract that goes to or past 34 you mentioned may be exactly what the Cardinals may face with Brendan Donovan. He has 2 years remaining til becoming a free agent. He will be 30 years old then .
Some will say..oh just sign him for 2 or 3 years.
Sounds good but as a star productive player his agent will want a 4 or 5 year big bucks deal . Sure Cards can say NO but the you lose him to FA for a measly draft pick.
That’s why the Cards will listen to offers . They may want to get a haul for him prior to him reaching FA two years from now.

For this team (at least 2-3 more years out) dfa Arenado if he won't accept a deal and trading Donovan now are both the right moves.

[Wattage]

He probably needs the IL the shoulder is obviously still bothering him I know people say players should play through injuries but this is what happens when they do a lot of times. Arenado also said he had to change his swing due to the finger problem which lead to the shoulder problem so yea playing through injuries can cause bigger problems

This is 3 years of decline now. I thi k we can stip with the fantasy that he will come back heakthy and rebound the next year. We heard the same thing about last year. He will never be fully healthy and 25 again.

[Rocket Scientist]

Speed and Arenado should never be used in the same sentence, he has none.

[ScotchMIrish]

He probably needs the IL the shoulder is obviously still bothering him I know people say players should play through injuries but this is what happens when they do a lot of times. Arenado also said he had to change his swing due to the finger problem which lead to the shoulder problem so yea playing through injuries can cause bigger problems

That's true. Could be injuries more than age but the two are frequently related. Give him credit for playing through the injuries.

[Othawhitemeat]

He is still a useful player - just not worth his contract. He would be better off taking a trade to some team that can use him less, but still be a 75% player where he can get more rest, but be a def sub and maybe start 2/3rds of game w hope that he can preserve a little more power. Unless Cards are willing tonspend ir trade to get a MOTB player this offseason, Arenado is a waste of a roster spot and especially batting anything above number 7.

However, if we could unload him to Dodgers/Yankees for a mid prospect, then got to take it. May need to think about releasing him pending if we trade any of our infielders. Still useful, but not with what we are trying to do.

[nighthawk]

Now hitting .221/.275/.343/.617 in his last 313 PAs. A .275 OBA over that many PAs needs to be given as few plate appearances as possible.

[Jatalk]

He probably needs the IL the shoulder is obviously still bothering him I know people say players should play through injuries but this is what happens when they do a lot of times. Arenado also said he had to change his swing due to the finger problem which lead to the shoulder problem so yea playing through injuries can cause bigger problems

It he wasn’t good before the injuries.

Sure he was

So he was injured all last year and the beginnings of this year? I don’t think so but may be wrong.

[Melville]

This is quite simple.
"Nolan, you will accept any trade we arrange, or you will go to the deep end of the bench.
You will be behind Gorman and Saggese at 3B and will not be used at DH at all.
You have 351 career HR, 1175 RBI, and 987 runs - and that may not get you into the HOF, particularly in light of how bad you have been in recent years.
You have zero post-season success in your entire career.
We know you want more - and that will not happen here.
Because you will not be getting more than 1 or 2 PA's a week from now on.
So, are you ready to pack your bags?"
Whatever language is used, STL must understand that is the only course of action to be taken and N/A must understand that is exactly what STL will do.

[Jatalk]

This is quite simple.
"Nolan, you will accept any trade we arrange, or you will go to the deep end of the bench.
You will be behind Gorman and Saggese at 3B and will not be used at DH at all.
You have 351 career HR, 1175 RBI, and 987 runs - and that may not get you into the HOF, particularly in light of how bad you have been in recent years.
You have zero post-season success in your entire career.
We know you want more - and that will not happen here.
Because you will not be getting more than 1 or 2 PA's a week from now on.
So, are you ready to pack your bags?"
Whatever language is used, STL must understand that is the only course of action to be taken and N/A must understand that is exactly what STL will do.

Amen. Preach!!!

[CorneliusWolfe]

In this day and age if you sign or trade for a high priced player that contract goes to or past 34 or so it’s a high risk in decline possibilities for the cost for some reason
I assume the days of players like Brock , Gibson etc. are over
But then again back in those days a team didn’t have 25 million a year invested or whatever those dollars were back then?

The contract that goes to or past 34 you mentioned may be exactly what the Cardinals may face with Brendan Donovan. He has 2 years remaining til becoming a free agent. He will be 30 years old then .
Some will say..oh just sign him for 2 or 3 years.
Sounds good but as a star productive player his agent will want a 4 or 5 year big bucks deal . Sure Cards can say NO but the you lose him to FA for a measly draft pick.
That’s why the Cards will listen to offers . They may want to get a haul for him prior to him reaching FA two years from now.

This is 100% accurate.

[Goldfan]

This is quite simple.
"Nolan, you will accept any trade we arrange, or you will go to the deep end of the bench.
You will be behind Gorman and Saggese at 3B and will not be used at DH at all.
You have 351 career HR, 1175 RBI, and 987 runs - and that may not get you into the HOF, particularly in light of how bad you have been in recent years.
You have zero post-season success in your entire career.
We know you want more - and that will not happen here.
Because you will not be getting more than 1 or 2 PA's a week from now on.
So, are you ready to pack your bags?"
Whatever language is used, STL must understand that is the only course of action to be taken and N/A must understand that is exactly what STL will do.

This, bench him. He’s no longer a useful starter…..unless you enjoy losing

[Melville]

This is quite simple.
"Nolan, you will accept any trade we arrange, or you will go to the deep end of the bench.
You will be behind Gorman and Saggese at 3B and will not be used at DH at all.
You have 351 career HR, 1175 RBI, and 987 runs - and that may not get you into the HOF, particularly in light of how bad you have been in recent years.
You have zero post-season success in your entire career.
We know you want more - and that will not happen here.
Because you will not be getting more than 1 or 2 PA's a week from now on.
So, are you ready to pack your bags?"
Whatever language is used, STL must understand that is the only course of action to be taken and N/A must understand that is exactly what STL will do.

I am a business performance consultant and individual success coach.
Have been doing this around the nation for a long time.
There are a few key detrimental factors which I have seen over and over and over again which inevitably make success impossible.
One in placing individual loyalty above organization interest.
A second is waiting too long to make essential, necessary, and often difficult decisions.
There are others of course (inability to anticipate market trends and needs, past success blinding leaders to the need for change and course correction, unwillingness to invest resources in needed people, technology, or infrastructure, etc.).
N/A and the Cardinals are very good examples of the first two.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

It should serve as a warning to those who want to sign every big name free agent that comes along each year. Or, like we did with Arenado, make big trades for big name players. Those players get old. There's going to be decline. But the contract is going to play. And unless you're LA or NY, you can't consistently throw money at the problem to make it better.