After a turbulent offseason filled with rumors about his future, Nolan Arenado opened 2025 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He seems pretty happy with how it all played out.
Arenado was front and center on Opening Day, mashing an eighth-inning homer for some insurance in a 5-3 Cardinals win over the Minnesota Twins. The St. Louis faithful showed their appreciation with a long ovation that culminated in an Arenado curtain call, something that clearly touched the eight-time All-Star.
(Video source: MLB.com)
"It meant a lot to me today," Arenado said of the curtain call, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. "I took it all in today - and I usually don't, but today I did. The way (the fans) cheered for me, it meant a lot to me and got me motivated. I was just fortunate to give them something to cheer about again. So I want to thank them for that."
"I honestly wasn't expecting fans to be that loud," he added. "That hit me a little bit. I was pretty pumped up about it. When I touched my heart, I was basically saying thank you."
The Cardinals' main offseason objective was to trade Arenado and open up some payroll space as they move toward a rebuilding phase. However, they were unable to achieve this goal as part of a quiet offseason that saw the club make just one addition.
A deal sending Arenado to Houston was reportedly agreed upon, but he exercised his no-trade clause to block the move.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol thought Arenado's moment was the perfect end to a memorable season opener.
"(It) put a pretty nice bow on (the game), to be quite honest," Marmol said. "He's worked really hard this offseason to come back and show what he's capable of doing and what he’s done for a very long time. That homer, that's a big homer. It's probably more meaningful than people think."
