Nolan Arenado and $31 million traded back to the NL West

Nolan Arenado is returning to the National League West, and the St. Louis Cardinals have joined the Colorado Rockies in paying for a star who plays elsewhere.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired the eight-time All-Star third baseman from the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday in exchange for right-hander Jack Martinez, an eighth-round pick in last year’s draft out of Arizona State. The Cardinals will eat $31 million of the $42 million owed to Arenado through 2027, with Arizona paying just $5 million this year and $6 million next. And yes, the Rockies are still on the hook for $5 million of Arenado’s 2026 salary — part of the $50 million they attached to the original trade just to get rid of a player they never should have let go.

It’s a funny development to the most lopsided trade in franchise history. For the second time in five years, an organization sent Arenado packing for a pitching prospect and cash considerations flowing the wrong way.

The Cardinals at least got 697 games, three All-Star selections, two Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and a third-place MVP finish in 2022 out of the deal. The Rockies got Austin Gomber’s 5.31 ERA and the pleasure of watching him whine for a few years before releasing him last August.

Arenado, about to be 35, is coming off a brutal 2025 campaign in which he slashed .237/.289/.377 with just 12 home runs in 107 games, battling a shoulder injury that limited him to 23 second-half appearances.

For his career, the former Rockie owns a .282 average with 353 home runs, 1,184 RBI, 405 doubles, and 57.8 career WAR — 221st all-time, according to Baseball Reference. His 10 Gold Gloves make him the greatest defensive third baseman of his generation, though he hasn’t won one in any of the last three seasons.

None of that matters in Denver anymore, just the pain. The Rockies haven’t won since Arenado left, posting three consecutive 100-loss seasons while their former cornerstone collected hardware and MVP votes in St. Louis. The raw rWAR total from the 2021 trade tells the story: Cardinals, 18.1; Rockies, 1.5. The prospects Colorado acquired — Elehuris Montero, Mateo Gil, Tony Locey, Jake Sommers — produced nothing. In fact, Montero, who is now playing in Japan, was one of the biggest negatives during his time in MLB.

Arenado himself told the Denver Post last July that he still thinks about what might have been in 2018, when the Rockies came within one game of their first NL West title.

“If we had just gotten over the edge to win that division,” he said.

Instead, the front office did nothing at the 2018 trade deadline, Arenado lost faith, and the feud with then-GM Jeff Bridich ended with ownership choosing the executive over the franchise player. Bridich quit weeks after the trade. The Rockies got Gomber.

But that’s not the whole story. Arenado forced the issue by wanting to play in more postseason games. Which the Rockies knew they couldn’t provide, so they flipped him down I-70. He finishes his time in St. Louis, having played fewer playoff games for the Cardinals than he did for the Rockies. Strange enough, he has as many playoff hits in one game against Arizona in 2017 as he did during his entire tenure in St. Louis.

Now, Arenado joins a Diamondbacks club that reached the World Series in 2023 and is positioning itself for another run. He’ll replace Eugenio Suarez at third base and give Arizona veteran stability at a reasonable price — roughly $5.5 million per year for a player who, even in decline, projects as league-average or better and of course, the glove is still solid.

For Rockies fans, the trade is a reminder of everything this organization has squandered. The last relic of an era before baseball felt dead in Denver. Colorado once had a generational talent who wanted to stay, signed a long-term extension to prove it, and was traded with half of nine figures for spare parts. The Diamondbacks will now get whatever Arenado has left. The Cardinals got his prime. The Rockies have memories — and they’re still paying for it — actually, they’re still paying for him to now play against them as a divisional rival.

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