Nolan Arenado opens up about his one ‘regret’ in feud with Rockies
Aug 10, 2023, 4:13 PM
In perhaps his most candid interview ever about being traded by the Colorado Rockies, Nolan Arenado opened up on numerous subjects.
The third baseman, who’s now in his third season with the St. Louis Cardinals, spoke with Drew Goodman last week when the team was in Missouri. The interview aired on Goodman’s podcast and the play-by-play voice of the Rockies had some great questions.
Goodman asked Arenado now that a few years have passed since the infamous trade, if he’s had some time to reconcile what went down and how it went down.
“I mean, I think there’s some things I wish I could take back with how it went down. Maybe, letting it get public there. That’s one thing I do regret about it,” Arenado said. “Talking to the media about those things. That’s one thing I guess when I was a little younger and I was frustrated, my emotions got the best of me in that time. That’s the only thing I regret about how it went down.”
Arenado infamously told multiple media outlets he felt “disrespected” by the organization, mostly feuding with former GM Jeff Bridich.
“There’s a lot of disrespect from people there that I don’t want to be a part of. You can quote that,” Arenado texted Thomas Harding in 2020.
Arenado would go on to play the COVID-19 shortened season with the Rockies, but was moved to the Cardinals the next offseason.
The Rockies acquired several prospects back in the deal, but also shipped $50 million to St. Louis. It’s a move that owner Dick Monfort has been ridiculed for ever since, and some think ultimately led Bridich to resign months later.
Still, Arenado may regret the feud went public, but he was ready for a change of scenery.
“Me getting moved I think was important, for me and my career. I think it was important for them too. I think that’s about it,” Arenado said.
However, the Rockies did make the playoffs twice with Arenado in 2017 and 2018. They lost to the Diamondbacks in the wild card game in 2017 and beat the Cubs in the same game in 2018. He knows the group played really well, but had an even higher ceiling.
“I guess the one regret I have is… we had a pretty good group. It was kind of fun, me, (Trevor) Story, DJ (LeMahieu), CarGo (Carlos Gonzalez). It was a pretty cool group of players, pretty good ones. So, I wish we would’ve accomplished more, but I also wish we would’ve kept a lot of guys there,” Arenado said.
Colorado lost LeMahieu to the Yankees after 2018, Story stuck it out but eventually ended up with the Red Sox and Gonzalez has long since retired. The Rockies had a championship window, but couldn’t capitalize on it.
The interview with Goodman is well worth your time, as Arenado goes on to discuss a plethora of topics.
He mentions games in 2018 he regrets, wishing the front office could’ve acquired more at the trade deadline and his returns to Coors Field since the trade.
You can listen to the full conversation here.
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