Why One Ex-Player Believes the Cardinals Would Be Making a Mistake Letting Nolan Arenado Go

Every offseason brings its share of rumors, but some whispers carry a different kind of weight. Some make fans sit up a little straighter, refresh their feeds a little faster, and argue a little louder in grocery-store aisles and barbershop chairs.
And this winter, the rumor carrying that weight is simple, unsettling, and louder than anyone in St. Louis expected:

What if the Cardinals actually let Nolan Arenado go?

The idea alone sends a shiver through the fanbase. And for one former player — a Cardinal who lived through the pressure, the expectations, the grind of wearing that iconic uniform — the thought doesn’t just feel risky. It feels like a mistake.

He didn’t say it angrily. Didn’t shout it into a microphone. He simply spoke with the calm certainty of someone who knows what it means to win and what it means to lose leaders you never replace.

“Letting Arenado go,” he said, “would be like removing the spine from the team.”

That’s a powerful thing to say. But it’s hard to argue with.

Because Arenado isn’t just a third baseman. He isn’t just a contract, or a WAR total, or a highlight reel of diving stops. He’s the kind of player who alters the temperature of a room the moment he walks in. He competes like the game owes him nothing and demands everything. And for a franchise searching for direction, identity, and momentum, players like that aren’t just valuable — they’re foundational.

The ex-player explained it perfectly:
“You don’t judge Arenado by the box score. You judge him by the heartbeat.”

And the Cardinals, if the rumors are true, are standing at a crossroads. They’ve spent the last few seasons wobbling between retooling and rebuilding, never fully committing to either. They’ve tried patchwork rotations, shifting lineups, new coaches, new voices — and the results have been… uneven.
Fans know it. The front office knows it. Everyone feels the tension tightening like an unwound string.

That’s why Arenado matters so much.
In chaos, he is clarity.

When he runs onto the field, glove flashing under stadium lights, you can feel hope settle into the stands. Even strangers sitting ten rows apart feel connected by the same thought: we still have a chance. And that kind of presence doesn’t grow on trees. It doesn’t show up in every prospect pipeline. It doesn’t appear because you wish for it.

The former Cardinal put it simply:
“Guys like him keep teams from falling apart during the rough years. You don’t move leaders when you’re searching for stability.”

And he’s right.

Yes, Arenado had slumps. Yes, the team has needs bigger than any one player. But the idea that the Cardinals might give up the one thing they’ve been missing — fire, consistency, and a relentless belief in competing — feels backward, almost upside down.

Letting him go would send a message, whether intended or not:
We’re not sure who we are anymore.

And that’s a dangerous message for any franchise, especially one built on tradition, pride, and decades of winning.

The ex-player didn’t talk about contracts or trade packages. He didn’t care about payroll space or prospect rankings. He talked about something deeper — the soul of a team.

“You lose Arenado,” he said, “and you lose a piece of what makes the Cardinals the Cardinals.”

Maybe the front office is simply exploring options. Maybe the rumors fade by spring. Maybe Arenado stays, and this becomes just another dramatic offseason chapter forgotten by Opening Day.

But right now, the warning stands — soft, steady, and rooted in experience:
Letting Nolan Arenado go wouldn’t just reshape the roster.
It would reshape the identity of a franchise still searching for its way back.

And for one ex-player who knows what St. Louis baseball feels like at its best, that’s a risk the Cardinals simply can’t afford to take.