In January of 2018, Mike Schmidt told Tyler Kepner of The New York Times that he believed that Nolan Arenado, then playing for the Colorado Rockies, was “going to be the heir apparent to the all-time greatest third basemen.”
Three years later, Schmidt said on Bret Boone’s podcast that “three or four of his normal years away from being the greatest third baseman of all-time.” Just days later, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Arenado in a trade with the Rockies.
We aren’t quite three or four years removed from Schmidt’s comments to Boone, but the Hall of Famer was in the booth from NBC Sports Philadelphia Saturday afternoon when Arenado homered twice in a 7-6 win over the Phillies.