Colorado Rockies paying Nolan Arenado to face them

One of the more interesting aspects of the Nolan Arenado trade was the sheer amount of cash that the Colorado Rockies had sent to the St. Louis Cardinals. A total of $50 million is being paid to St. Louis over the lifetime of Arenado’s contract, a point which became even more amusing with the Cardinals and Rockies facing off over this weekend.

It turns out that the Rockies are paying Arenado over $200,000 each game this weekend, a decent amount of money to a player who has all the motivation in the world to beat his former team.

Colorado Rockies paying for Nolan Arenado to beat them

His first ever game against the Rockies went about as well as he could have hoped. The Cardinals won 5-0, while Arenado was 2-4 with a double. While he will claim that the victory is what is important, it had to feel good to have success against his former team.

Arenado has also looked like his usual self this year. His 2020 campaign was disappointing, as he posted a .253/.303/.434 batting line in his 201 plate appearances, hitting eight homers and nine doubles. He did win his eighth consecutive Gold Glove, and fourth consecutive Platinum Glove, but he also had his worst season with the bat since his rookie campaign.

This year has been much different. It had been thought that a change of scenery would work wonders for Arenado, and that belief looks correct thus far. He has a .283/.341/.496 batting line in his 138 plate appearances thus far in 2021, hitting five homers and ten doubles.

It also helps that St. Louis was Arenado’s preferred destination, as he spent the 2020 campaign sending highlights of himself to Adam Wainwright in an attempt to get the Cardinals to trade for him. Being away from what had become a toxic situation in Colorado, and going to his preferred destination, has made a major difference in his performance.

The Colorado Rockies are paying Nolan Arenado to beat them this weekend. While the payout is great, he likely does not need any additional motivation.