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By Jon Vankin
Contributing Sports Writer
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Trade rumors have swirled around eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado, the current St. Louis Cardinals third baseman, since late last season — mainly because the team's president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said the team was trying to trade him.
But Arenado has not been traded. Yet.
One team generally considered a likely destination for Arenado is the New York Yankees. So when Arenado made the tedious three-hour trip to Tampa from the Cardinals' spring training facility in Jupiter, Florida, Wednesday, popular speculation held that the 33-year-old, 12-year veteran was attempting to "showcase" his talents for the Yankees brass, in hopes that doing so would improve his chances of being traded to the Bronx Bombers.
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On Thursday, Arenado flatly deniedthe game was a "showcase" for him, according to an ESPN.com report.
"I didn't come here for that," Arenado told a local St. Louis sportswriter, according to ESPN.com. "Day 3 of spring training. That wouldn't be a good day to showcase myself. I'm not ready for that."
Instead, Arenado said, he was simply looking to get three at bats under his belt — which he did, though without any real success. Arenado struck out in his first and third trips to the plate, and lined out in between.
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Arenado stayed in the game against the Yankees — which New York ended up winning 7-0 — for seven innings in order to get his at-bats in.
Veteran players rarely make lengthy road trips during spring training, especially in the early days of the exhibition game schedule. But in addition to getting his swings in against live pitching, Arenado said he was motivated to make the three-hour drive to see Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who was Arenado's Cardinals teammate from 2021 until this season, when Goldschmidt, the 2022 National League MVP, signed with the Yankees on a one-year, $12.5 million contract.
Arenado said he also wanted to visit with Yankees third baseman DJ LeMahieu, a longtime friend.
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