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At the conclusion of the 2022 season Nolan Arenado checked a box that many believe sealed his Hall of Fame resumé. It was the third baseman’s tenth big league season – the minimum required for Cooperstown consideration.

By that time his trophy case was overflowing. At the end of 2022, Arenado boasted ten Gold Gloves – six of them the Platinum variety – five Silver Slugger Awards, and seven All Star selections.

Seven of his first ten seasons featured 30 or more homers with three of them topping the 40-homer mark. In his first decade in the bigs the 6’2″, 215-pounder led the NL in dingers three times, RBI and total bases twice each.

WAR7 adds up a player’s highest 7 seasons of WAR to quantify his peak. Through 2022 Arenado’s comes in at 44.4. Only a dozen men at his position in baseball history have a higher figure. Eight of them are already in Cooperstown with Adrian Beltre sure to follow. Popular Veterans Committee candidates Dick Allen and Ken Boyer and former captain of the three-time World Series champion Athletics Sal Bando are the other three.

For fans more enamored with counting numbers, Arenado’s first ten years put him short but well on his way to Cooperstown. Through his first decade at baseball’s highest level the 2,000-hit and 400-homer milestones are well within reach. In just ten years Arenado put up 1,520 hits and 299 homers.

Though not quite a lock for baseball’s highest honor, Arenado is close.

Shown here is Topps’ 2018 Heritage baseball card of Arenado autographed by the man on Cooperstown’s path.

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For a 9-year period starting in 2015, Nolan Arenado filled his trophy case. The slick-fielding third baseman took home 8 Gold Gloves and 5 Silver Sluggers. Though there was no All Star Game in the covid-19-shortened 2020 campaign, Arenado was selected to the game each of the other seasons.

Arenado hit .288 during those 9 seasons, averaging 33 doubles, 33 homers, and 105 runs batted in. Eight times he earned the Player of the Week nod, four times he was named the NL’s Player of the Month. The run also featured six top-8 finishes in MVP voting, four of which placed him in the top-5.

Shown here is the receipt Arenado signed after receiving his first All Star ring in 2015. Just 24 years old in ’15, he led the league in homers (42), RBI (130), and total bases (354). By season’s end Arenado claimed both a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove.