Poll: Will The Cardinals Be Able To Trade Nolan Arenado?
January 29th, 2025 at 12:21pm CST • By Nick DeedsOne of the biggest storylines of the offseason has been the Cardinals’ to this point unsuccessful attempts at moving veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado. As the club scales back its payroll and focuses on youth, both the Cardinals and Arenado himself have expressed a desire to move on this winter. In theory, moving an eight-time All-Star who’s just two seasons removed from being an MVP finalist should not be an especially difficult task, but a confluence of factors has made things very complicated for St. Louis’s front office.
The most obvious limiting factor at play is Arenado’s hefty contract. The infielder is due $74MM over the next three seasons, and even with the Rockies poised to pitch in $10MM as a condition of the trade that sent him to St. Louis in the first place, it’s hard to imagine a number of smaller or even mid-market clubs being able to stomach the majority of that salary. Even for clubs who can afford to pay Arenado, it would be understandable if there was some level of pause about committing that much money to a hitter coming off a .272/.325/.394 slash line that was essentially league average (102 wRC+). Arenado’s glove is still enough to make him a roughly three-win player even with his diminished offensive numbers but the division rival Cubs’ difficulties in finding a trade partner when looking to move Cody Bellinger this winter show how depressed the market can become for a three-win player who’s making more than they would fetch on the open market.
Things are further complicated by Arenado’s no-trade clause, which he’s appeared to be very comfortable wielding in order to direct the Cardinals’ negotiation efforts towards clubs he wants to join. Arenado blocked a trade to the Astros in mid-December despite previous belief that he would approve a trade to Houston, in large part because he wanted to see how the club would fortify the roster after trading away Kyle Tucker. That decision to wait and see what was next for Houston backfired, as they pivoted towards signing Christian Walker in a move that likely closed the door on Arenado joining the Astros.
Since the deal with the Astros fell through, the market for Arenado’s services has been exceptionally quiet, with the Cardinals beginning to entertain the possibility that Arenado might be in camp for the start of Spring Training or even still be in the club’s starting lineup on Opening Day. The Yankees reportedly tried to convince the Cardinals to do a swap that would’ve sent Arenado to the Bronx and right-hander Marcus Stroman to the St. Louis, but the Cardinals dismissed that offer without even presenting it to Arenado due to a lack of interest in adding Stroman to the fold. It’s hardly a surprise that they wouldn’t want to take on Stroman and is $18.5MM salary for 2025, but that decision only serves to highlight the financial difficulties the Cardinals face in attempting to move their third baseman.
Even as a trade of Arenado has become less likely as the calendar has flipped to 2025, there are at least some reasons for optimism. Arenado has reportedly become more open-minded about what clubs he would approve a trade to in recent weeks, which could theoretically inspire renewed efforts from clubs like the Mariners, Royals, and Tigers who have some level of interest in him but initially believed that Arenado would block any trade they worked out with the Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have indicated that they wouldn’t necessarily need to cut payroll elsewhere if Arenado remains with the club in 2025. It’s at least theoretically possible that’s simply a negotiation tactic, but if the Cardinals are truly not operating under a mandate to cut payroll to a specific level, then perhaps they’ll be more willing to chip in cash to help pay down Arenado’s salary or accept another underwater contract as part of the return.
One obvious catalyst that could spur Arenado talks back to the forefront of the hot stove would be Alex Bregman finding a new home in free agency. Bregman entered the winter ranked as the #3 free agent overall and the top available infielder according to MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, but he’s found a relatively quiet market to his point in the winter. The Red Sox, Tigers, Astros, Blue Jays, and Cubs are all known to be involved in Bregman’s market to this point on at least some level. While trading Arenado to a division rival like the Cubs is nearly impossible to imagine, the Astros have already moved on, and Toronto may not be competitive enough to satisfy the veteran. The interest is mutual in at least the case of the Red Sox, who currently figure to start Arenado’s longtime Rockies teammate Trevor Story at shortstop on a regular basis this year. If Bregman were to come to a decision, and especially one that saw him end up in Houston, Chicago, or Toronto, it’s easy to imagine Arenado’s market picking up more significantly.
How do MLBTR readers think things will play out? Will Arenado be in another uniform before Opening Day? And if so, will a deal get done before he’s scheduled to report to the Cardinals for Spring Training on February 17? Have your say in the poll below:
I hope not.
Few years ago many,many Redbird fans preened and gloated about how Mo had fleeced the Rockies and got them to pay down Arenado’s contract. Doesn’t look like such a bad deal for the Rockies now and the Cards will now be the ones eating dollars (if they can even move him).
It was and still is a horrible deal for the Rockies.
He already had good years for cards. If he wants to be traded you may be surprised at how little they have to eat. Depends on if they want a return or not. His defense is still elite. Bat is much less but not below average yet and may never be under this contract. You pay for prime years. The final years aren’t supposed to be worth their aav.
His defense over the last 2 seasons is not elite. He was a +1 DRS and 5 OAA in 2023, and last season he jumped back up to +6 DRS and 9 OAA. Overall, a very good defender, but elite would be double digits in both categories.
His bat was not below average? true, by a microscopic amount. OPS+ last season of 101. WRC+ of 102. A few less hits and he’s below average. It’s pretty easy to see him being below average this year at the plate.
It was still a bad deal for Colorado, but let’s not pretend Arenado has any kind of value relative to his contract anymore. They will have to eat a fair bit if they want anything other then a handshake in return.
They’re going to eat a lot.
If you think those stats are what matters then sure. If his contact data was different I would be more worried because the power looks to be toast. That’s what teams see. Same as they are more concerned with what he does with average outs than outs above average. The balls he gets to he is elite in dealing with them.
He sucks, should have traded him a couple years ago
“The balls he gets to he is elite in dealing with them.”
That sounds like doubletalk. Almost every fielder in MLB can make the routine play. When a guy can’t, he’s moved off the position. Being able to make the routine play doesn’t make anyone elite. The outs above average are exactly what makes a defender elite.
If that was true sure. But not everyone makes the routine play as often as others. Plenty of guys are playing a position just because another guy is even worse and needs to play lesser position. They play because of their bat. Even at his age Nolan gets to more balls than a lot of guys. Ok so he didn’t win platinum gold glove but he was a finalists. Third in oaa. So if you have to be #1 and only #1 can be called elite ok he’s not elite. Not a big deal.
Now you’ve gotten into the weeds. My post was in response to your saying that Arenado making the routine plays somehow made him elite. That’s nonsense.
Not everyone makes the routine plays, but almost all do. I don’t like fielding % as a stat in general, but it’s appropriate for routine plays. Last season, 95 players had a fielding % of .971 or higher Arenado was at .977.
If you were to post that Arenado’s defensive skills had eroded a bit, but that he was still a better than average defender, and not insisted his routine plays made him elite, I would have totally agreed with you.
I never insisted on anything. I said elite defender. Haven’t changed my opinion on that. His range although certainly not peak is still fine enough for me. He could afford to lose some. Just conceded that if elite defender has to be double digit drs oaa then he’s not elite. I haven’t seen much of him lately but from what I have I still consider him as not the best but one of the best. It’s my opinion. I don’t need double digits but if someone else does that fine. He’s elite defender to me that’s all that matters. Yes I realize he doesn’t get to some balls he would have in the past and I am perfectly fine with that. He still gets to more than most other 3b.
Jean, I wish that was true. In Boston we have a guy that should have been moved off 3B 3 years ago. Instead they gave him 10/313.
Anytime a team trades away 100 million plus in salary commitments by default they won. It’s not debatable just because you and fans don’t understand how baseball works on the business side doesn’t mean it was a horrible trade.
Yup. Contracts can be measured in dollars per year and performance per year and the huge thing many overlook is that they only correspond in aggregate. The individual years frequently show a disconnect between early contract excellence and late contract expense. Anyone who can trade the back end of one of these eight or ten year deals pretty much wins no matter what the trade ended up being.
I don’t think anything that has happened has made this deal look better for the Rockies.
I think everyone involved with and since the original trade from the Rockies to the Cards have been losers on this one. Yet, each team did receive some valuable years when Arenado was productive.
No it was still really bad. Traded him at peak performance for basically nothing but a league average starter. Cards got good seasons from him at a reasonable price and may very well unload him just like the Rockies did, so they aren’t really saddled with any bad years.
And it also factored into the Rockies signing Kris Bryant who immediately failed and has shown no hope at any position.
He would have won an mvp had his teammate not won it in 2022. The Cardinals are a much, much worse team if he had not been on it. They gave up zero quality players to get him. In what world was this even a remotely acceptable trade by the Rockies?
Getting rid of a 100 million plus salary commitment. It’s comical how clueless fans are when it comes to running baseball teams. There’s more to baseball than the stats guys put on the field the contract is far more important and dictates more of a value of a player than anything he produces on the field.
@thats it. I am not understanding your point. So Rockies won ? Or cards will win if he’s unloaded ?
@ThatsIT that’s nonsense. If that were the case every notable extension or free agent signing would be a mistake and that’s ridiculous. Practically every team in baseball are run by clueless front offices and have clueless fans.
This whole focus on trading him is the problem in the first place. When the Cards traded for him they knew how long his contract was, how much he was making, and that he had a no trade clause. You shouldn’t trade for a player like that unless you are working from the assumption he will play out his whole deal on your team. It’s poor management for them assuming they could simply trade him again after a few years.
I don’t think they assumed that. I think Arenado once again demanded a trade, although he may have learned from his last experience to keep it quiet instead of holding a public tantrum. He’s gonna be a capital P Problem if he’s still on the roster on OD and the team is not competitive.
I doubt he requested a trade he could have simple opt out last year.
That was last year. They weren’t rebuilding then.
Didn’t request a trade and didn’t opt out after the COMPLETE disaster of 2023, either. The trade idea isn’t coming from Arenado.
You’re correct Ol’ Uncle Charlie–it 100% did not come from him.
The Cardinals announced that John Mozeliak was going to be taking a smaller role and will be retiring soon. They then brought in Chaim Bloom to be his successor. They then announced they would be refocusing their resources into player development and would cut spending. They then said they were moving on from Goldschmidt and would be moving Contreras to first base. Then it was reported they were shopping Arenado, Sonny Gray and Contreras. It soon came out that neither Gray or Contreras wanted to waive their no trade clause but Arenado would be willing for a limited amount of teams (6 precisely–including the Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox and Yankees). Then Arenado blocked the trade to Houston.
This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Arenado didn’t request a trade from the Rockies or the Cardinals. Both were initiated by the respective clubs. He just dictated where he went as he has the full no trade clause.
Oh no. No no no no. I was here for the Arenado follies in Denver and he VERY much demanded a trade. That much is public.
Then you’re remembering it wrong. The Rockies started shopping Arenado initially without his approval. That’s what sparked the relationship to end.
All he has to do is play well for a half a season and he’s instantly more valuable and can be traded easily. And if he doesn’t do that then who’s fault is it?
He’d already be gone if he wanted to go to Houston but he blocked the trade.
Unless Cashman can pull a rabbit out of his hat who really cares. Arenado & the Cards are both goofy as hell & deserve each other. Ahahahahaha!
They will keep everyone, players with one year left will get hurt or regress during the 1st half and then we will have the same problems the following year. On top of that, the front office will run off the remaining loyal Cardinal fans and then wonder why people won’t buy tickets or subscribe to whoever holds their TV rights at that time
Still hoping that I’m wrong 🙁
Either way, keep him or trade him, it’s gonna hurt. Best management can hope for is that he has a strong first half and can move him to a contender (of his choosing) on or before the deadline for a middling prospect or two.
It probably doesn’t help the Cardinals that one of the teams that would probably be interested is in their division (Cubs). $25 per for three years wouldn’t be that scary for the cubs especailly if Saint louis eats half of one of the years. He’s still a good a good defensive player that is capable of putting up at or close to an 800 ops.
It’s 65 for three. Approx 23m a season. Rockies paying the rest
Yeah I couldn’t tell if the $74 was post Rockies or not. $23 mil for 3 would be perfect for the cubs. I doubt the cards are desperate enough to deal with them though.
It’s a good fit for the Cubs. However would just add to the list of many decent above average players while other teams like Dodgers,Mets, Padres have star players in their lineups.
The cubs ownership/management have pounded into my head that I need to look for players that would fit their very tight contract constraints. I should feel lucky that I get to watch one year of a star player in Tucker before he signs elsewhere.
It’s more like 20 a season when factoring in deferred money.
Cards were willing to throw in $20m in the proposed trade to Houston. Nado is still a 3 WAR player, so $15m per year is a very good deal.
No reason to trade him, so don’t.
Option 4: They’ll trade him at the deadline.
That’s what I would have picked, but since there were only three options I picked that he won’t be traded.
Right ! He’s def getting moved. They had an excellent trade worked out with Houston. They were eating enough money to get two really good prospects in return. Another buyer of those sorts will come around. I’d rather give two prospects then pay Bregman
“No” and “No but in Red” if this was a pie chart
Arenado never ask to be traded. Cardinals approached him like all the high priced vets left under contract and told them their plan. Arenado said he would accept a trade if it was a fit for him
Yeah that’s nonsense
BITA, seriously? We’ve chatted about this and you’re alllll over thr place. Sonny Gray rejected being dealt as well.
Not yet. He’s on the decline and doubt many teams want that.
Arenado’s scary to any team right now. That exit velocity and barrel rate drop off along with the crumbling plate discipline. Looks like he’s aged about 2x normal speed over the past 3 years.
I initially thought it was coup that StL got Arenado and Goldy, but they never built anything up around them to consistently compete.
Won the division in 2022. Has an excellent team but Helsley choked in the playoffs.
Winning one division title was the goal?
The team has had 1 losing season out of the last 18 years.
Low expectations, huh? Division titles and deep runs no longer matter. Also, Goldschmidt and Arenado weren’t together on the Cardinals for 18 years. One is now gone and the other is in decline.
Obviously things haven’t gone well lately. But the poster said the team didn’t consistently compete and thats false. The team basically had 1 bad year.
Teams don’t win forever. Things change. So what? No clue why you care so much about all this.
I don’t think he waives his NTC this close to the start of spring training. Maybe he is more open to a trade closer to the deadline, if a major contender wants him.
Depends on if the Cards are finally come to grips with just how underwater his contract is. They seem to think he’s only marginally overpaid while the rest of the world seems to disagree
Arenado for Yoshida
The Cardinals have absolutely nowhere to play Yoshida, you probably couldn’t pick a worse fit for their team than him.
Every club has at least a couple contracts they’d like to majority dump to reallocate elsewhere or pocket. Pressly was 1yr and not huge amount. Some multi year guys like NA, Yoshida, Tajuan, etc are tougher to find takers.
I just hope baseball finds a way to get this guy on the Dodgers. Perhaps a player to be deferred later?
He wants to be a Dodger. I still say that’s where he ends up.
Can you provide a link to where Arenado said he wants to be a Dodger?
He’s on Instagram posting subtle messages I have heard this from numerous people. I haven’t seen it myself but I don’t think those people are lying.
He grew up a Dodgers fan. He absolutely wants to play for the Dodgers. First choice by a mile.
So, there is no proof. It’s just stuff you’ve seen from anonymous people on the Internet.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have no need or opening for him; Andrew Friedman isn’t dumb.
That makes it extremely unlikely that Arenado will end up as a Dodger.
8ts Arenado posting this stuff dipstick. He’s posting subtle(or not so subtle) hints that he wants to play for the Dodgers. It’s public knowledge go dig it up yourself if you want proof.
The Dodgers have no need for 3 closers and 6 aces but it hasn’t stopped them yet.
There is zero room for a declining Arenado. If you don’t realize that, discussing it with you is pointless.
I looked at his Instagram. Nothing like that. I’m sure that if it really happened there are screenshots. Ask those people who told you to provide links or screenshots.
@Joel OH now it’s subtle messages on IG?? HAHAHA
You are such a clown. You have some nerve calling others dipsticks as well. You have been asked numerous times to provide a link to your claim that he asked to be traded. You started with him being on IG. You then pivoted to Mo mentioning an unnamed player asked to be traded. That was quite funny BTW, you jumped on that after someone else mentioned in comments around 3 or 4 Cards stories back. Now you have circled back to IG only now they are “subtle messages”
You can try and babble around reality but it’s pretty easy to see through your BS. You re spastic and constantly lash out with tantrums. When not having tantrums you are flat out lying or hurling false accusations at writers. The funniest thing is you have shown time and time again that you don’t even know the fundamentals of the sport. You are a fan of baseball news and stats, you don’t even watch the game which you ve proven time and time again.
It’s hard to imagine the Cards being able to move him. It would take a perfect storm of situations. Despite them eating some salary, he’s still somewhat expensive, so a team would need to have payroll capacity remaining this late in the offseason. Along with that, there has to be a need. And then Arenado will have to approve the trade. Is there a team with payroll space, that needs a 3B, that Arenado is willing to be traded to? If there is then it’s a short list, costing the Cards leverage.
The Mets. That’s who makes sense. The Jays and Tigers might pay the salary but he won’t accept a trade there. Mets make sense. Perhaps Yankees but I think they are done spending.
I agree the Yanks are probably done spending. If the Met’s are the only fit, which might not be if they re=sign Alonso, then, as I said, the Cards don’t have much leverage. NY knows they really want to move him. so if he is traded there it won’t be a good trade for the Cards.
The Cardinals are not desperate to move him if they were he would he gone by now. The Mets are a good fit if they don’t sign Bregman or Alonso. The Mets can trade an outfielder like Taylor he’s a good fit for the Cardinals.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. I think the Cards are very anxious to get him, and the majority of his contract, off the books, Why would a team supposedly re-tooling want to keep someone that expensive, on the wrong side of 30, with declining numbers? Any team, not in win-now mode, with an underwater contract like Arenado’s, would want to move on.
I dont think the contract is underwater.
If they are so anxious to trade him why hasn’t it happened yet?
The contract isn’t underwater, and water isn’t wet.
3/$64M for an aging, league average hitter, is definitely underwater. If he were a FA now he might be able to get 2/$25M, with maybe a team option for a 3rd year at $10M. Compared to the deal he has, that looks like $34M in negative value. In other words, underwater.
It’s 3 years 60 when factoring the deferred money. Again ranked number 7 3b in baseball by MLB channel and their experts.
Yusei Kikuchi got 3 years 60 million. 2 years 25? Yeah no. That’s Goldschmidt money but Goldschmidt is older and had a worse season in 2024. You have no clue what you are talking about.
“…Goldschmidt is older and had a worse season in 2024.”
Yeah, so more worse. Goldschmidt had a 98 OPS+, and Arenado had a 101. Goldschmidt also had 33 2Bs and 22 HRs, compared to Arenado’s 23 and 16.
If you think the difference between the two is worth $7.5M more for Arenado, you’re the clueless one. Also clueless is thinking Arenado could get 3/$60M if he were a FA. And Kikuchi is a pitcher, making for a completely clueless comparison.
Goldschmidt plays 1b Arenado plays 3b and is a better defender at his position. Why would you ignore that?
I’m not ignoring that. You were the one to compare the 2. Since they play different positions, I assumed the comparison had to be as hitters. Now you want to move the goalposts and make a strawman argument about the different positions they play.
My point all along has been that, despite your ignoring how bad Arenado’s contract is, that it’s underwater, and the Cards probably won’t be willing to eat enough salary to convince some team to take him off their hands. Some teams would love to have him on a 2 year deal at $25M, maybe even $30M. But it’s 3/$60M in value, and I don’t see them eating $30M-$35M to move him. So he’ll remain in St. Louis.
Arenado playing 3b makes him more valuable than a 1b. That’s common sense. And Arenado is a very good defensive 3b.
I hope he stays in St Louis. Not sure why you think otherwise.
@Joel How about because he invoked his no trade clause!! They had agreed to a deal pending him waiving NTC.
Do you have an issue absorbing reality???
That .270 average would be among the Tigers leaders. Pay it down to Kim’s $16MM/yr with Tampa and it might work.
$16M is more than he’s worth. I don’t think Arenado could get 3/$48M if he were a FA now. He’s worth more like Goldschmidt’s $12.5M. He’s owed $64M for the next 3 years. I think the Cards would be more than happy to pay $16M and save $48M, but I’m not sure acquiring teams would want to pay him that $48M.
You would think both he and St Louis would like do get it done before ST. The Cardinals whole point (besides salary relief) was to give at bats to Gorman. He’s not going to get those with Arenado still there. Nolan will be walking into camp with the media all over him possibly causing a distraction if he’s still around. You’d think he’d want to avoid that as well as acclimate himself to his new team right from the start.
Gorman can get at bats at 2b, 1b or DH. There is playing time for Gorman even with Arenado on the team.
There’s no denying that a trade, even after ST starts, would be good for both. But having the motivation to trade, doesn’t matter when the Cards have their hands tied. Unless they give him away to a team that Arenado approves, he’ll probably be in St. Louis, at least until the deadline.
I don’t think a trade is necessarily good for both. A trade now vs July saves the team some money. So what?
Again we’ll have to disagree. A trade would be good for Arenado, since he could go to a contender. Something the Cards won’t be doing for another year at least, but probably not for two or three. And a trade is good for the Cards so they could unload a big salary, and clear the decks for contending down the road.
The Cardinals are as much of a contender as the Giants are.
“The Cardinals are as much of a contender as the Giants are.”
What’s your point? Most people don’t think the Giants are a contender.
The Cards are not yet motivated enough to eat contract, and NA is not motivated enough to absolutely want to leave. Let spring training start. Cards will get more of the fans reaction, as well as how NA is reacting to the situation. NA will see more of what type of team the Cards plan to play. Both will be more motivated to get something done.
The Cards as a whole last year were bad. NA’s stats were down but who was on base in front of him or behind him protecting him? Goldy wasn’t himself, Gorman hit just above .200 I think. You know who needs a 3rd basemen? The brewers. You know who’s too cheap to pay him 17 mill a year if the cards ate the rest? The Brewers. Do I kinda wish he was hitting 3rd sandwiched between Contreras and Chourio? Yup
Arenado wants to go to a team that spends a ton of money. You know who that’s not? The Brewers. Plus the Cardinals aren’t going to trade him within the division.
Can you provide a link where Arenado said that? If it’s as true as you say, there must be proof.
The Brewers are the last team the Cardinals would trade him to. If you don’t understand that then that’s your fault.
You emphatically stated, “Arenado wants to go to a team that spends a ton of money.”
That’s the link I’m looking for. What is the source of your information?
Get lost loser. You reply to me again I will mute you I guarantee it.
I guess this means that you “won” the argument. Your prize for winning is another lonely night at home.
Able to? Easily yes. Will they is the ?. If Nolan wants to leave likely yes.
I only scrolled through the comments to find BITA, PITA and The Cheetah. Where are they?
(I made up the Cheetah part, but it does sort of have a sports-talk show ring to it.)
After looking at Arenado’s Baseball Reference page, we can see he is in a serious decline in his Hit Tool. His 2024 OPS was .719 with 16 HR’s over 635 PA’s. His 2023 OPS was .774 with 26 HR’s over 612 PA’s.
It appears he has been healthy, he plays strong defense, but doesn’t have much base speed. It doesn’t look like many teams would invest more than one year in him and would need a super hitter friendly home park.
“Even as a trade of Arenado has become less likely as the calendar has flipped to 2025, there are at least some reasons for optimism”
Who exactly is rooting for him to be traded? Besides the Cubs fan who wrote that line?
Either both sides overplayed their hand or neither had one to start with…
The Cardinals don’t really want to trade him. Most importantly Arenado only wants to go to particular teams.
I like the fit for Boston assuming Devers is willing to move and the Red Sox could trade Yoshida. But again that’s complicating.
The problem is that the “fit” for Boston is of the shoehorned variety. With the glut of Infielders already on the team adding another, especially one with a declining bat makes no sense.
His offensive issues are because he tries to do too much not a decline in actual skill.
Glut of infielders? I certainly don’t see that.
If the Cardinals don’t want to trade him, why is he being shopped? Methinks you know a lot that isn’t true.
“The Cardinals are changing direction, which is fine. All teams do that,” Wolfe said. “So if that’s the way it is and they’ve said it might be beneficial to move you and they were open and communicated about it, he’s like: ‘I get it. Let’s just try and find a place where they’re in a different place,’ where he could just jump in and help the team go to the next level.”
I’m not exactly sure what you’re saying. That quote sounds a lot like “we want to trade him because he doesn’t fit the direction of the team anymore. I mean, we don’t want to trade him (because we might be stuck with him), but if there is another team that thinks he can help, we’re listening intently.”
Might as well say “somebody please come trade for this guy!”
He’s being shopped because he asked to be traded.
So the Cards are rebuilding but want to keep an expensive aging veteran that won’t help them win and they’re merely being nice to him by exploring trades? Okay man. That doesn’t even make sense. It’s what franchises sell the fan bases, but the Cards aren’t shopping Nolan as a favor to him. They already traded him once to a team he didn’t want to play for. Sometimes you gotta read between the lines.
The Cardinals are not rebuilding
Looking to trade away veteran pieces, while adding no one this offseason, and planning on playing a bunch of kids under 25 years old. What do you want to call it? A renovation? A reconstruction? Or my personal favorite… a roster reimagining?
Why haven’t they trade anyone if it’s a rebuild?
AGAIN Joel are you going to provide a link…….
Hard to trade a guy who only wants to play in Boston, New York or Southern California.
There’s no reason why he can’t be traded–but I’d say he won’t be absent some last minute injury to a 3B on a contending team coupled with a slug of cash, or no need an a much bigger slug of cash. Realistic total WAR over three years? Maybe an aggregate of 6? What’s that better case result make him worth?
His NTC and money owed are 2 reasons.
He’d be an Astro if he accepted. He’s hard to move unless they eat serious cash to get him to one of the few places he wants to go. I think he’s staying until the deadline at least.
If he’s not hitting @ the deadline then they’re likely going to be saddled with the deal til it’s up.
The contract gets cheaper each year. 27 of the 64 million he’s owed is for 2025.
We have differing opinions in the choice of words. I’d say somewhat less expensive instead of cheaper. The Cards are on the hook for $27M this season, which is way more than he’s worth. And he’s owed $37M for ages 35 and 36 seasons (minus the $5M kicked in by the Rockies), for a guy apparently in decline, which is not very cheap IMO.
MLB channel just did the 3b rankings for 2025 and Arenado was ranked 7th. There are not a lot of good 3b out there. He’s been league average as a hitter and plus defensively the last 2 years. And of course he’s declined from his MVP caliber 2022 season what else is he supposed to do improve?
What age was Goldschmidt when he won the MVP? Remind me again.
I can understand why Arenado wants out. But he’s not some bum he’s a good player still. If he goes to a team with a good hitting coach and isn’t so reliant on him he will play better wait and see.
A league average hitter is just that, and not close to being worth $27M this seas0n, and another $37M for the next 2 years. If he was being paid half that other teams might see him as an asset.
Arenado and Goldschmidt are two different people. Not everyone declines at the same age. Just because Goldschmidt won MVP at age 34 is irrelevant to what Arenado might do at the same age this season. Goldschmidt also had a 6.0 bWAR the year before.
$18.5M per year after this one… what a steal!!
I could see St Louis kicking in another $10-15 million and taking on Mitch Haniger’s contract from the Mariners.
Lol no
Thing is the Cards don’t want Haniger. They only need pitching.
The Cards definitely don’t want Haniger, and I highly doubt the M’s want Arenado.
M’s would love Arenado… for $1 (can’t afford anything else). As for Haniger, I don’t think even the M’s want him anymore.
He’ll be traded once Bregman signs.
Thing is, Boras is going to Boras.
Yeah that’s clearly the holdup here. Mets and Red Sox still make a lot of sense.
No one has any patience.
Bregman should have signed by now. Boras should have learned from last year and I think he did to some extent but at this point it appears he overplayed his hand with Bregman. But who knows maybe Bregman gets a huge deal before too long.
As a fan I really dont care a lot if they trade him or not. I think it’s probably good for team morale but maybe that’s what motivates him to have a good first half.
Same. I’d rather they trade him (and several others), but I’m not going to lose sleep over it.
These teams are going to do what they want, no matter what any of us think.
Patience?! Pitchers and catchers report in 14 days.
Yes. The season starts in two months too.
A savy team would pay Arenado to permanently waive his no trade clause AND sign Bergman to a non-commital contract. You have to pay for it. It only costs half as much you think it does at the trade deadline.
It is an investment like any other business. It cost money.
Nothing wrong with giving your customers quality entertainment.
I just got muted by BITA Joel. Is that bad?
He can’t help himself
He didn’t even mute me like he promised he would.
Time will tell, but once Bregman signs the Cards will gain a little momentum. I still think he fits well in LA. Muncie is willing to move to 2nd, Edman could be a defensive replacement at 2nd, his best position. Forget about moving Betts. With the pitching staff they have assembled, why not do everything you can to support the. With Arenado, their defense improves emincely!
Yeah that’s where he wants to play. And it’s not like the Dodgers are just filling needs they are already stacked they already have a huge payroll they can afford it. The Cardinals would probably take Taylor back plus a prospect or 2.
The Dodgers’ infield is complete, and management will not upset the fan base by signing Bregman.
Immensely!
Arenado for Masasaka. Only way it happens
The Cardinals do not want or need Yoshida. And his contract is definitely worse.
I don’t think Arenado wants to be traded, and if so, it’ll be on his terms.
It’s a bit of a hash because Mo is a bit of a hack. No news there.
My guess is no one wants him — at the numbers he’d cost — and short of the Cardinals eating $$$ he’s staying put. And DeWallet isn’t going to eat money on this. And if so, a marginal amount.
Let’s remember Arenado was willing to move to 1b if that helped facilitate a trade somewhere. The Dodgers have Freeman. While he may have liked to play for LA, so would 3/4 of the league.
“If it would make Mo’s job easier to get to the right team, Nolan is more than willing to move around,” Wolfe said, quoting his client as saying, “‘I’m not insulted to go play first and I can win a Gold Glove over there if that’s what it takes.'”
That (could have) meant Boston, NYM, and maybe SanD. It certainly didn’t mean the Dodgers.
Nolan Arenado has won many games for the Cardinals by his bat and/or his glove. So many of you seem to forget the WINS he created vs a League average fielder or hitter. No matter the outcome, it has been a good deal for the Cardinals.
Arenado was irritated openly and in the press with Rockies GM Bridich and the FO’s lack of adding quality players around him. This open Feud led to his willingness to go to a team with a strong chance for post-season play.
The calculated cost to a team, including the Cards, is $60M for 3 years of Nolan. $74M on paper, with the Rockies picking up $10M, and the deferral effect reducing the number to $60M.
Arenado has never been secret about his desire to be a Dodger if that would ever work out. Dodgers were his team growing up.
Arenado can sometimes sulk, be somewhat stubborn, be hard on himself, and works his butt off to be the best competitor he can achieve. Plan for a resurgence as he has the tools to succeed above replacement, even as he ages.
I wish the Rockies would DFA Bryant, trade McMahon to the Yankees, and bring Arenado back. Gomber to StL, Strohman and Arenado to the Rockies.
Some of the “best fans in baseball” are wildly whiny and entitled. The Cardinals have been so historically successful that you’d need to be born in the 80s just to have ANY memory of a time they weren’t a successful franchise.
I even had one argue with me once that the Cardinals EVER struggled with attendance.
26 World Titles and the Yankees have more, I believe. Oh wow….a reset.
The fact is the front office will know how to win, before their fans will know how to lose.
Great fans! Amazing baseball town. And you dont have to pay for a mediocre product. But the arch isn’t falling.