The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has two years and $27 million left on his contract.
Arenado’s offensive production has declined in recent seasons, making a trade more challenging.
As a 10-time Gold Glover with a full no-trade clause, Arenado must approve any potential destination.
It is a saga dragging on through a second winter, with little guarantee of resolution before the calendar turns and Major League Baseball teams begin assembling in Arizona and Florida.
Still, the St. Louis Cardinals will try to trade Nolan Arenado. And their third baseman might be a little more agreeable to accept the destination.
Arenado, 34 and with two seasons and $27 million remaining on his contract, is no longer a fit for the pivoting Cardinals, who have already dealt ace Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox. Yet new baseball operations chief Chaim Bloom still has a key task on his to-do list that predecessor John Mozeliak could not cross off: Find a taker for Arenado, and a destination the 10-time Gold Glover finds agreeable.
Recent returns won’t help that cause: Arenado’s home run total has diminished sharply the past three seasons, from 30 in 2022 to 26, 16 and 12. That’s coincided with a drop in hard-hit balls (39% in 2022, 33% last season) and a rise in groundball rate (30.5%, 36.5%).
Consequently, Arenado was worth 1.3 WAR in 103 games last season, a sharp fall from his career-best 7.9 in 2022. That’s the version of Arenado the Cardinals must shop. Yet more than a few clubs can use a steady glove and veteran presence at third base, even if Arenado is not the spectacular defender and dynamic all-around talent he once was.
A look at five potential trade partners for Arenado, who has a full no-trade clause:
Arizona Diamondbacks
There is an immediate opening at the hot corner in the desert. And the Diamondbacks’ motivation to explore an Arenado deal would likely be informed by two factors: Their confidence, or lack thereof, in prospect Jordan Lawlar and their desire to move on from Ketel Marte.
For now, Lawlar is lightly sketched in at third, though injuries limited him to 114 games in the minors and majors the past two seasons, and he’s struggled in limited stints with the big club in 2023 and ’25.
Marte is a three-time All-Star, but the relationship with club and player was strained when he extended his All-Star break a couple of days after his home was burglarized. Marte’s reasonable contract could attract suitors.
Moving him and acquiring Arenado could bump Lawlar, and perhaps a platoon partner, to second base. Arenado’s contract wouldn’t be too onerous for Arizona to take on, and it’d be a savings if they move Marte’s relatively team-friendly deal, which has $91 million remaining.
Arenado’s curious defensive metrics – his Outs Above Average the past four seasons: 14, 5, 10, 3 – would be mitigated paired with cornerstone shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. Not a bad fit.
Seattle Mariners
Hey, at least these clubs have a fairly recent track record making big deals.
The Diamondbacks nearly pushed the Mariners across the finish line to their first World Series appearance, shipping them first baseman Josh Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline, both players spearheading a run to Game 7 of the ALCS.
The Mariners were so smitten with Naylor that they re-signed him to a four-year, $92.5 million deal. They still need to replace Suarez.
Hmm.
What makes Arenado a nice fit in Seattle is the notion of him serving as a bridge to the passel of elite infield prospects in the Mariners system. Seattle is in win-now mode, for certain, yet also has top prospects Cole Young – who debuted last season – and Colt Emerson banging on the door. Feinin Celesten lurks a little deeper in the system.
With Naylor back in the fold and All-Stars Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez bearing much of the offensive load, Arenado could slide a little deeper in the lineup – he’d look nice in the five hole behind Naylor – and simply play elite defense at third.
Miami Marlins
Let’s start with potentially the biggest hurdle: Would Arenado accept a trade to the perpetually-in-flux Marlins?
Heck, he turned down a ready-made opportunity in Houston last winter, so agreeing to a deal in any of baseball’s purgatories – and Pittsburgh would be a nice fit, too – seems unlikely.
But let’s suspend that reality for just a moment and focus on the Marlins’ 49-38 finish – a sample that stretches to June and suggests this wasn’t an end-of-season anomaly. Throw in the fact the Marlins are reportedly looking to add payroll, perhaps motivated by baseball’s revenue-sharing regulations.
And consider that the biggest thing this team lacks is a veteran presence in a projected lineup where everyone’s younger than 30 and four are 24 or 25.
The Cardinals want to unload some cash. The Marlins want to spend some. And Arenado wouldn’t even have to switch spring-training environments – simply walking to the other side of the clubs’ shared facility in Jupiter, Florida.
Los Angeles Angels
If ever a team would finally cut ties with its veteran albatross at third base, only to enter into an agreement with another highly-paid veteran, well, it’d probably be the Angels.
Reportedly closing in on a retirement settlement with Anthony Rendon – thus ending the $245 million saga with their oft-injured, lineup-averse player – it seems the last thing the Angels would want to do is take on more money for a talent who has seen better days.
Yet owner Arte Moreno seems to enjoy creating the impression that the Angels are this-close to contending, and GM Perry Minasian has dutifully indulged him, drafting a string of close-to-the-majors talents and spackling with short-term free agents to get Anaheim right up around, oh, 72 wins each year.
In this sense, Arenado is a perfect fit, and the price tag not too exorbitant for a club that still somehow draws pretty well.
Additionally, the dude grew up in Orange County – he and Matt Chapman put El Toro High School on the map long before Paul Skenes played there – and might realize there aren’t too many superior options in terms of location and, well, playing on an at least serviceable team.
Athletics
Hey, since we’re testing the limits of sanity, why not go all-in?
Yeah, it’d be remarkably counterintuitive for a veteran player to accept a deal shipping him to a minor-league park for the final two years of his contract. But let’s focus on the down time and imagine Arenado taking a shine to Yolo County.
Arenado would be an hour’s flight home on off days. Additionally, the man has an interest in a Napa Valley vineyard and would be an hour’s drive should he want to keep an eye on the vines or unwind with a nice bottle of his red.
Would such convenience – and batting in a lineup anchored by burgeoning superstars Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz – make up for the creature discomforts of Sutter Health Park? Perhaps a trade reassignment bonus would sweeten the pot – and the A’s, too, are trying to keep the revenue-sharing gendarmes off their back.