ST. LOUIS — It appears disaster has been averted for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Katie Woo, a reporter with The Athletic, broke the story on Saturday that superstar St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado would not be opting out of his current contract with the Cardinals. Woo reports a league source confirmed Arenado would not be opting out. Other outlets have since corroborated the reporting.
Arenado could have opted out of his current deal to become a free agent. Arenado's current deal transferred over to the Cardinals following the team's trade with the Rockies ahead of the 2021 season.
Arenado's current deal still has $144 million remaining on it and runs through the 2027 season.
Earlier this week, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said he met with Arenado out in California about the impending decision and discussed the future of the franchise.
Arenado had up until five days after the end of the World Series to make his option decision.
Arenado will be an MVP candidate once again for his 2022 season where he hit .293 with an .891 OPS, 30 home runs and 103 RBI's. He is also a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award finalist at third base.
During two years in St. Louis, Arenado has had a .273 batting average, .848 OPS, 64 home runs and 208 RBI's in 305 games.