Angels are not like others on Cardinal Arenado’s list

Cardinal nation gets it, for the most part. Disliking what led the Cardinals here is not the same as understanding what needs to be done now.

A rebuilding team turning to a youth movement wants to cut payroll and create more opportunities for young players while keeping the clubhouse atmosphere as positive as possible in 2025.

Arenado and his agent, Joel Wolfe, who has been speaking on Arenado’s behalf lately, sound like they are playing ball. The list of places where Arenado would consider dropping his no-trade clause is not insurmountable. Cooperation is present.

So we’ll wait to see which of the teams on Arenado’s list will make things the least painful for the Cardinals, who have already had to eat their pride to go this route but would at least like a significant pay cut — or an exciting name in return — to ease the burn.

But while we wait, one thing is strange. Too weird to just ignore. Maybe that tells us something too. All of the teams Arenado is reportedly open to joining make sense — except one.

The no-Juan-Soto Yankees make sense. The Astros, if required to advance without Alex Bregman, make sense. The Phillies, loaded with big names who need to win big before it’s too late, make sense. And so on.

But the angels? They make no sense. At least not if you believe Wolfe’s winter meeting paint of Arenado as a player hungry to win now, more than anything else, before it’s too late.

Wolfe would have us believe that location has nothing to do with this. He wants us to believe that Arenado would go to Mars if a ring is likely there. He also wants us to think that if there isn’t a move that doesn’t set his client up for a major championship opportunity, his client will be fine again and playing ball here.

Sorry, I don’t buy it. Not quite.

Not when the angels keep showing up. MLB.com has reported that the Angels are on the list of teams Arenado would consider dropping his no-trade clause to join. The Orange County Register has reported on the potential fit, calling it unlikely but perhaps still more realistic if better-performing teams decide not to make the Cardinals desirable offers.

I find this interesting. Maybe it’s legit. Maybe it isn’t. These anonymously sourced potential trading partner lists are always somewhat nebulous.

The angels are not connected, but there they are, according to several reports. It makes me wonder if their presence is silent proof that Arenado wants out of St. Louis more than he and his agent suggest. As in, Arenado wants to win, of course. But if not, maybe he’d rather just go home?

The inclusion of the Angels helps illustrate why I’ve been gently trying to tell Cardinals fans that the idea of ​​an untraded Arenado showing up to spring training with the Cardinals probably isn’t a good idea for him or the team. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can derail what aims to be an optimistic youth movement like a veteran who feels left out.

Maybe Arenado doesn’t really want to play for the Angels. But if he’d rather play for the Angels than the Cardinals, he shouldn’t play for the Cardinals.

Yes, Arenado is from California. Yes, there is a road named after him less than 25 miles from where the Angels play ball. Yes, being close to home means something to everyone, including professional athletes. But come on.

Arenado was perhaps the steamiest among active players about how the Angels handled the unloading of Albert Pujols before the two became teammates in St. Louis. And the angels are not ready to win big – because the angels never win. Nine consecutive losing seasons and counting.

The Angels haven’t finished better than third in their division since 2017. They haven’t been to the postseason since 2014, and that was their only trip there since 2009. They haven’t advanced past an American League Championship Series since their World Series win in 2002 .It is their only championship. They are on their fourth manager since then.

Mike Trout has a 14-year postseason streak with the Angels. Pujols had a 10-year postseason run with the Angels. Shohei Ohtani never had a postseason at-bat (or pitching start) in six years with the Angels. Trout, Pujols and Ohtani were teammates as Angels who had zilch to show for it before they broke up.

I can see why the Angels would want Arenado. Compared to the more than $76 million that current Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is owed over the next two seasons, Arenado’s $74 million over three years looks like a bargain. Plus, Arenado, unlike Rendon, stays on the field and doesn’t publicly talk about baseball being just a job to him.

What I can’t wrap my head around is that Arenado in any way, shape or form is open to being the next big star to go to the Angels to go away. That nearly tarnished Pujols’ career until the Dodgers and then the Cardinals pounced to save him late in the game. But at least Pujols got seriously paid. Given the cost of living and taxes, Arenado would take a pay cut to become an Angel. Poof.

I hope it’s wrong, for his legacy, and I’ll bet the rebuilding Cardinals reach the World Series again before the Angels do.