香港三级片

JUPITER, Fla. 鈥� After the welcome-back hugs and time in the clubhouse to tug on some Cardinals gear no one was sure he鈥檇 ever wear again, Nolan Arenado spoke to the media for the first time this spring, and it took less than three minutes for him to capture the crux of his winter spent on the trade block.

If he was 鈥渁 better player鈥� last season, maybe this all plays out differently, he said. Maybe the Cardinals are more successful in the standings and don鈥檛 downshift, or maybe they鈥檙e more successful in their trade pursuits and plunge into a youth movement as planned.

An offseason of such maybes ended Sunday.

Arenado arrived in camp a Cardinal, and with him came a new question:

If he鈥檚 the player he expects, will he force the Cardinals to be better than they expected?

鈥淚 think if I鈥檓 a better ballplayer 鈥� if I鈥檓 me 鈥� I think I just make any team better, to be quite honest with you,鈥� Arenado said Sunday morning outside the clubhouse he again calls home. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 here, I鈥檓 going to give everything I鈥檝e got, and I can make this team better for sure. ... I鈥檝e got to go out and play ball and be me. Last year was not what I want the Cardinals fans to know me as, so I see this as an opportunity kind of change that script.

鈥淚鈥檓 back,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 ready to go play ball.鈥�

A day ahead of Monday鈥檚 first official full-squad workout of spring training, Arenado arrived carrying a bag he received as the Cardinals鈥� lone representative at the 2023 All-Star Game in Seattle. He was not yet at the clubhouse door when manager Oliver Marmol greeted him with a hug. Post-Dispatch photographer Christian Gooden captured the moment 鈥� Arenado smiling and Marmol with one foot off the ground as he embraced the third baseman.

Just a week ago, there was a chance they鈥檇 meet from opposite sides of the field, at Fenway Park in April, not walking the same path together in Jupiter.

鈥淲hen you have one of the best third baseman to ever play the game walk into camp, I鈥檓 very excited to see him,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淚t was a great hug. I was damn happy to see him.鈥�

Getting going

Now, the Cardinals really do have to reset around him, from adjusting the playing time that had been planned at third base for Nolan Gorman to leaning into the potential for starting Lars Nootbaar in center field.

They are likely to start using Arenado in promotions for the team again, and they鈥檙e going to have to reconcile the honest expectations of the team. A major motivator for trading Arenado was to reduce the payroll, and with his salary still on it to start the season, the Cardinals do not expect to be 鈥渁ggressive鈥� in augmenting a roster that isn鈥檛 too much different from the one billed as a contender a year ago.

John Mozeliak, the club鈥檚 president of baseball operations, said he does not want a daily part of his offseason 鈥� looking into trades for Arenado 鈥� to become a daily part of his spring or season. The Cardinals are open to the possibility of an in-season or even deadline trade and do not expect Arenado鈥檚 complex contract to be prohibitive. The limited number of teams will be.

Arenado stressed that the list of teams he鈥檒l approve for a trade isn鈥檛 likely to expand.

鈥淭o be willing to pick up my family and move them, it has to be something that is worth it,鈥� Arenado said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 kind of why the list (of teams) was fairly small. I don鈥檛 see myself changing that list really ever because, like I said, I have a family, and I don鈥檛 feel like moving them everywhere just to move them everywhere.鈥�

He added that he knows he鈥檚 comfortable with St. 香港三级片.

In December, Arenado used the no-trade protection in his contract to veto an agreed-upon deal between the Astros and Cardinals. Including the time he pushed for a trade from Colorado to the Cardinals and twice electing not to opt out of his contract and remain with the Cardinals instead of becoming a free agent, that means four times he鈥檚 had a chance not to be a Cardinal and each time has chosen to remain in red. There was momentum for a deal to Boston in recent weeks that sources described as 鈥渁greeable鈥� for Arenado and the Cardinals, but that vanished when Alex Bregman recently accepted a high-dollar, short-term deal with the Red Sox.

鈥楬e鈥檚 part of the Cardinals鈥�

Mozeliak does not want perpetual trade talk.

鈥淚 think the way we鈥檙e going to approach this spring training and this season is he鈥檚 a part of the Cardinals,鈥� Mozeliak said. 鈥淣ow, if something comes up and it makes sense, I鈥檒l certainly get with him and we鈥檒l talk about it. It鈥檚 not something where I鈥檓 getting up every morning and chasing the waiver wire or chasing injuries or chasing things like that. It is something I certainly will pay attention to. But from our fans鈥� perspective, from our team鈥檚 perspective, from our perspective, he鈥檚 part of the Cardinals.鈥�

It did not take long to see that Sunday.

Arenado leapt into workouts, joining another teammate who stayed, All-Star Willson Contreras, on a back field to face pitchers in live batting practice. They were joined by top prospect JJ Wetherholt and rising catcher Jimmy Crooks, the reigning Texas League MVP. Ian Bedell, a right-hander and Mizzou product, hung a slider to Arenado and the third baseman drilled it down that line for what would have been a double.

Less than a month ago, Mozeliak said his 鈥減riority No. 1, 2, and 3鈥� was trading Arenado. Having failed to do any of the top three, the question becomes whether priority No. 4 has changed. Arenado joins Contreras and Sonny Gray as veterans who used their no-trade clauses to remain with the Cardinals, and effectively challenged the team to face this question: What happens when the front office wants to give the roster a makeover and the roster won't let it?

Already, the lingo has shifted as the Cardinals shift from describing their approach as a 鈥渞eset鈥� to now calling it a 鈥渢ransition鈥� year. Whatever the word, actions speak loudest.

Instead of freeing up playing time at third base for a younger player, the Cardinals now consider the role Arenado will play in the development of those players, such as Gorman there beside him or Wetherholt on the horizon.

鈥淚f you can model your competitive nature to someone like 鈥橬ado, that鈥檚 a really good thing,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淗e brings a certain intensity to the table that, man, these young guys just watching how he goes about his business. There is a certain level of intentionality with the great ones 鈥� not the good ones, the great ones. From the second, they walk into a clubhouse there is a purpose to what they do. I think sometimes that鈥檚 missed. Guys think that talent is enough. That don鈥檛 understand what that extra mile really looks like. You want Nolan work. He does that in every area of the game 鈥� where you want guys to mimic that.

鈥淗aving him in that clubhouse and these young guys continue to see one of the best to do it?鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have an issue with that.鈥�

On the scene

Shortly after arriving Sunday at 7:17 a.m., Arenado met with Mozeliak for the first time since they talked in September about seeking a trade. They had talked via phone a few days earlier and that he assured Mozeliak it would not be awkward 鈥� or worse, he said. He said he even told the All-Star third baseman that he鈥檇 like a hug.

(They did share one.)

Arenado also had a meeting with Marmol, during which they discussed what he hoped for the season and what kind of work he put in during the offseason. Arenado slimmed down and adopted kickboxing workouts and more time in the weight room to work on explosiveness. Despite the trade talks, Arenado met with the Cardinals鈥� new hitting coach, Brant Brown, and got guidance from him on the swing improvement he鈥檇 like to make. Arenado is coming off a season with a career-low .394 slugging percentage, 16 homers and overall average production that is subpar for his Hall of Fame-caliber career.

That, he said, ate at him, drove him. The trade talk was background noise to the soundtrack of reclaiming the level of play he expected 鈥� regardless of the jersey he wore.

鈥淚 think he has a chance to be very exciting,鈥� Mozeliak said. 鈥淚 certainly was nervous of the fact to have to consider trading him because I think those kind of players are great. He鈥檚 been a great player his whole career, and I think he expects to be great again. That does help us.鈥�

Arenado said that he did not 鈥渄emand鈥� a trade, which Cardinals鈥� ownership echoed. He only was receptive to the Cardinals鈥� offer to look into options for him as they reduced spending and steered into that 鈥渞eset.鈥� The places he would leave the Cardinals to go were limited and meant he spent the winter recognizing: 鈥淒id I sit here and think I wasn鈥檛 coming back? No. I knew there was always a chance of me coming back, so I鈥檓 prepared.鈥�

The journey helped.

On Saturday, as he flew from Orange County, California, to South Florida, Arenado said he had a 鈥渓ot to think about鈥� 鈥� including how the plane was not headed to a new spring.

He said he had one thought as he landed on familiar ground.

鈥淎ll right, it鈥檚 time to get ready for the season and focus and do everything I can to playing like me,鈥� Arenado said. 鈥淚鈥檓 in the right place. I feel ready. I feel I have a lot to prove.鈥�