Nolan Arenado is an eight-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and many in the baseball world believe the star third baseman is well on his way to having a plaque in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
One thing he hasn’t accomplished is postseason success with just five postseason hits in 33 at-bats over 13 seasons.<\/p>\n
He hopes a move to the young Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> can change that trend.<\/p>\n \u201cI still want to play in the playoffs,\u201d Arenado said. \u201cI know my numbers aren’t great, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I was prepared for it and that I’ve always been prepared for it. I just haven’t played the way I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want the opportunity to do it again and I don’t see why this group can’t do that,\u201d he added. “That’s why I was really open to playing here. My expectations are still high.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s no surprise Arenado was traded on Tuesday from the rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals, considering they had shopped him extensively for more than a year. Still, the end came quickly. Now he joins a franchise trying to make the postseason for the first time since a run to the World Series<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cI was kind of in shock, because this process has been going on for a little while, so it was like \u2018Man, I can\u2019t believe we’re finally getting to this place,’\u201d Arenado said.<\/p>\n Arenado \u2014 who turns 35 in April \u2014 will be playing for his third MLB team after five years with the Cardinals and the first eight with the Colorado Rockies. He said his departure from the Cardinals was amicable and he had good conversations with the team’s president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, even if the process dragged on longer than both sides had hoped.<\/p>\n Bloom has made it clear that St. Louis \u2014 which finished 78-84 last season \u2014 is in rebuilding mode.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very evident that there was a step they needed to take in letting these young guys go, finding out who they are and who their identity is and I was just kind of in the way of that in a sense,\u201d Arenado said. \u201cBut I loved my time there.\u201d<\/p>\n