If DeWitt is to be believed, the St. Louis Cardinals can’t afford a trade for Nolan Arenado
Decision makers at the top of the St. Louis Cardinals organizational chart have spent much of the weekend using their public comments to delicately step around the rumors surrounding the club’s potential pursuit via trade of Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. did not step lightly on Monday afternoon. He put his foot down.
“We’re always opportunistic, but we’re not out there actively to develop a trade or adding to the club necessarily at this point,” DeWitt said Monday. “We don’t want to give up our top young players for a lot of talent there. And we’ve been pretty disciplined over the years building the system, playing those players when they come up, and it’s worked pretty well.”
DeWitt made it clear that he was speaking in generalities about trade speculation and not about any proposal in particular, but Arenado’s presence was felt as heavily at the team’s annual Winter Warm-Up as some of the Cardinal players who were in attendance.
One fan wore a purple “Arenado 28” Rockies jersey when the convention opened on Saturday morning. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak feigned ignorance when asked about Arenado by name. Those in attendance at the annual St. Louis baseball writers dinner cheered loudly when Arenado’s highlights played during a video highlighting 2019’s Gold Glove winners.
The Cardinals have been compliant in their public silence, either because they have been working toward a trade or because they see a strategic advantage in creating market conditions. Or, perhaps, because the front office is hammering out a deal which they know will have to be sold to an ownership group which has committed to a payroll in the range of $170 million for 2020, leaving little room for the $35 million Arenado is owed.
“I think we were sixth in baseball last year, and it’s pushing the envelope, to be honest,” DeWitt said. “We were 11th in revenue last year. So I mean, if there’s great opportunity somewhere to move it up a little bit, we’d take a look at that.”
“A little bit,” as it turns out, is less than what Arenado makes.
“That’s not moving it up a little bit, that’s moving it up a lot,” DeWitt emphasized. “We really can’t be in that kind of a range. Unlike a lot of clubs, we have a lot of obligations.
“We built the stadium ourselves. We’ve got roughly a $20 million mortgage payment every year, our cap backs now are $10 million, and for our revenue base not many teams have that obligation, if any. Bigger markets, they do, because they spend a lot of money. But if you know our category, not many have that obligation.”
Industry sources told Forbes in December that revenues in MLB in 2019 reached $10.7 billion, a $400 million increase over 2018. The Cardinals, as a privately held company, do not make their precise financial obligations public, but major business deals such as MLB’s sale of BAMTech to Disney for $1.58 billion in 2017 have created new revenue streams which were not available in prior years or for previous generations of ownership.
The Cardinals also stand to benefit from the approval of tourist tax funding to improve their spring training facility at Roger Dean Stadium. In December, Palm Beach County, Fla. commissioners pledged $75.1 million in municipal funds for improvements at the complex which is shared by the Cardinals and Miami Marlins. The teams are seeking a further $50 million in contributions from the Florida state government, with each organization also making private contributions.
Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said that the team expects the project to be completed for the spring of 2022, with either a gut rehab or a complete demolition and rebuilding of the existing clubhouse and training facilities.
The obstacles to completing a trade for Arenado are not merely financial. His contract contains a no-trade clause which gives him the ability to control his destination, should he want to pursue a change.
The Rockies are under no immediate obligation to complete a deal, having signed Arenado to an extension only a year ago and concerned about the reaction from a fan base which could feel deceived by a divestment from a franchise player.
The Cardinals, too, would have to surrender significant talent. It’s believed that the Rockies are seeking a trade package that wouldn’t take into account the money owed Arenado or his ability to opt out of his contract following the 2021 season; there are, to put it frankly, no discounts.
For the Cardinals, who have invested both financial and sweat equity in building a viable pipeline of minor league talent, the price of poker may be too high.
“The last couple years we have made trades where we’ve given up young players and gotten what we think is a player that fills a need,” DeWitt said. “So we’re not averse to doing (trades). But given where we are, we have a good team and we want to maintain that and not sacrifice our future for a short term fix.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
