ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals will be heading to Toronto for their next series but won't be bringing 2022 All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, as well as backup catcher Austin Romine with them.
The trio of Cardinals was placed on the restricted list due to COVID-19 vaccination requirements to enter Canada.
Not only will those three not be able to make the trip, but they'll also forfeit quite a bit of money by doing so.
According to the Associated Press, Goldschmidt, Arenado and Romine will forfeit a combined $637,163 in pay in accordance with the terms of MLB's collective bargaining agreement.
The AP reports that Arenado will lose $384,416, Goldschmidt will lose $241,758 and Romine will lose $10,989.
Goldschmidt was just named the National League's Player of the Week for the second time this season and currently leads the league in many offensive statistics such runs scored, average and OPS.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve all been dealing with the pandemic. Everybody’s had to make their own decisions on how they participate with some of the rules that were put in place, whether that was wearing masks to not wearing masks to getting the vaccination to not,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said when announcing the players who wouldn't be traveling to Toronto. “I guess the one sort of positive here is that it’s only two games. From that standpoint, life will find a way of going on. I don’t think it’s in anybody’s best interest to try to pass judgement or try to make this more than what it is. They’re not available and we’re going to have to go play the games.”