What is Nolan Arenado's Net Worth and Salary?
Nolan Arenado is an American professional baseball player who has a net worth of $50 million. Nolan Arenado plays in the MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals. Previously, he played for the Colorado Rockies from 2013 to 2020. Considered an elite third baseman, Arenado has won many accolades, including multiple Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, and Silver Slugger Awards. In 2019 he became one of the highest-paid baseball players in history when he signed an 8-year $260 million contract.
Contracts
Nolan's first MLB contract was a 1-year, $625,000 deal with the Rockies in 2009. He didn't make his Major League debut until 2013 when he earned $415,000. In 2014 he made $500,000 in 2015 and $5 million in 2016.
In 2017 Nolan signed a two-year $29.5 million contract.
In 2019 he signed an 8-year $260 million contract with The Rockies that made him one of the highest-paid baseball players in the world and the highest-paid position player in baseball history. Starting in 2019 his salary jumped to $35 million per year. In February 2021 Nolan was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. At the end of the 2022 season, Nolan could have opted out of his contract with St. Louis and seek other offers. Considering many similar players in the same year received $300 million deals, it's not out of the question to think Nolan could have signed a new 8-year, $300 million deal. Instead he opted to finish out his contract with the Cardinals. In essence, this means he gave up $150 million to stay in St. Louis.
Early Life and High School
Nolan Arenado was born on April 16, 1991 in Newport Beach, California and was raised in Lake Forest. His parents are Fernando and Millie, and he has two brothers named Fernando Jr. and Jonah. He is of Cuban and Puerto Rican ancestry. As a teenager, Arenado went to El Toro High School, where he played shortstop on the school baseball team. In his senior year, he batted .517 and scored five home runs. After graduating, Arenado planned to go to Arizona State University on a baseball scholarship.
Minor League Career
In the 2009 MLB draft, Arenado was chosen by the Colorado Rockies. He ended up signing with the team instead of going to ASU, and went on to make his professional debut in the minors with the Casper Ghosts of the Pioneer League. The following season, Arenado played for the Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League. He moved up to the Modesto Nuts of the California League in 2011, finishing the season with a .298 batting average and 20 home runs, as well as a league-leading 122 RBIs. Arenado joined the Arizona Fall League later in the year. In 2012, he played for the Texas League's Tulsa Drillers. Arenado subsequently played for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League for the first part of the 2013 season.
Colorado Rockies
Due to his success in the minors, Arenado was promoted to the major league in the spring of 2013. He made his debut with the Colorado Rockies in an away game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In his second game, Arenado scored his first MLB home run in a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not long after that, he recorded his first MLB grand slam in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. After the end of the season, Arenado won the Gold Glove Award. He won another one the very next season, despite playing in just 111 games due to injury. Arenado continued his success in 2015, winning his first Player of the Month award in September and finishing the season as the NL leader in both homers and RBIs. Moreover, he won his first Silver Slugger Award, his first Fielding Bible Award, and his third consecutive Gold Glove. In the 2016 season, Arenado hit his 100th career home run and led the MLB in RBIs, with 133. He capped the year off winning his fourth consecutive Gold Glove and his second consecutive Silver Slugger and Fielding Bible Awards.
In 2017, Arenado hit for the cycle in a June game against the San Francisco Giants. Making it to the postseason for the first time, he appeared in the Rockies' NL Wild Card Game loss to the Diamondbacks. Arenado subsequently claimed his fifth consecutive Gold Glove and third consecutive Silver Slugger Award; he also won his first Platinum Glove Award. For the 2018 season, he again won Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and Platinum Glove Awards. Arenado claimed further Gold Glove and Platinum Glove Awards in 2019, followed by an eighth-straight Gold Glove for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Getty
St. Louis Cardinals
Arenado was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals in early 2021. With the team, he hit his first home run in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds in March. Later, in the Cardinals home opener in early April, he hit a homer in a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Arenado finished the season with a .255 batting average, 34 home runs, and 105 RBIs. He went on to claim his ninth consecutive Gold Glove Award. Instead of becoming a free agent as his contract permitted, Arenado chose to remain with the Cardinals following the end of the season.
In the 2022 season, Arenado got off to a strong start as Player of the Month for April. However, he had a much rockier May, only batting .196 for the month. He was able to bounce back in both June and July, batting .309 with 10 homers. On the first of July, Arenado hit for his second career cycle in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He was part of another impressive feat the very next game, hitting the first of four consecutive homers in the first inning of a win over the Phillies. In August, Arenado was named Player of the Month again. He finished the season with a .293 batting average, 30 home runs, and 103 RBIs. Arenado also won his tenth consecutive Gold Glove, sixth consecutive Platinum Glove, and fifth overall Silver Slugger Award.
International Playing
Beyond the MLB, Arenado has also played for the United States national baseball team. He played with the team for the first time in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, which the US won 8-0 over the previously undefeated Puerto Rico. Notably, it was the first time the country had won the WBC.
Personal Life
In late 2019, Arenado wed his high school sweetheart. They had their first child, a daughter, in the summer of 2022.
