The Cardinals have hung Nolan Arenado out to dry by not directly addressing the trade rumors floating around the star third baseman.
Nolan Arenado joining the Cardinals in 2021 was supposed to settle a star at third base in St. Louis for the long haul. Instead, just a couple years later, the eight-time All-Star is the subject of trade rumors. And it all feels a bit too familiar.
The Cardinals front office is now playing into the same issues that drove Arenado out of Colorado after eight seasons. The Rockies weren't straight with Arenado and it broke the trust between player and organization. From there, a split was inevitable.
St. Louis and Arenado don't seem to be at that point yet. However, it's only a hop, skip and a jump away.
Cardinals are in danger of alienating Nolan Arenado amidst other struggles
After another loss to the Cubs on Friday, Arenado faced the music and spoke to reporters about all the rumors swirling, including talk of the Dodgers and Cardinals discussing a potential trade. Simply put, the third baseman hasn't heard anything from his the team. They haven't asked him about his willingness to waive his no-trade clause and certainly haven't discussed Los Angeles as a destination.
"I don't know where those reports came from," Arenado said, per Ben Fredrickson of STL Today. "When Mo comes up to me and wants to have those conversations, we will have them."
The innocent explanation of the lack of communication between Arenado and the Cardinals front office about the possibility of a trade is that the conversation about him with the Dodgers was incidental. It's likely the Dodgers brought his name up while discussing other players, nothing more.
Even so, the moment those reports emerged — the Los Angeles Times first published their report at 3:30 p.m. CT, hours before the start of the Cardinals game against the Cubs at 7:15 p.m. CT — John Mozeliak should have been on the phone with Arenado clarifying what was discussed and where the team stands on any trade talk involving him.
Mozeliak is helming a 46-59 ball club. Now is not the time to keep the team's most important assets in the dark about their future.