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MLB rumors: Why Cardinals are struggling to find Nolan Arenado trade
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01/30/2025 01:01 AM
The St. Louis Cardinals have made their plans this offseason to unload some of their veteran players, such as Nolan Arenado, in their bid to go younger, retooling their roster after a disappointing past few campaigns. However, even with a few teams needing a third baseman, Arenado remains a member of the Cardinals organization despite there being less than a month to go before the start of Spring Training.
One complicating factor that continues to be a roadblock in any potential Arenado trade is the fact that the veteran third baseman has a full no-trade clause, which means that he has a say on which team he’ll be playing for come the 2025 season. And to that end, Jon Morosi of MLB Network said that the Cardinals may have to prepare for the possibility that they’ll be entering Spring Training with Arenado still on the roster.
“The chances continue to increase that by the time the Cardinals arrive to Spring Training in Jupiter, Florida, Arenado will still be a member of the St. Louis Cardinals,” Morosi said.
The Nolan Arenado trade market has not progressed recently, as I reported today on @MLBNetwork.
The Cardinals may not be able to find an acceptable trade before the start of spring training. https://t.co/azpb6ei8RS
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 29, 2025
Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado could be an underrated get for teams in need of a third baseman
Nolan Arenado’s stellar play for most of his career has earned him the right to choose his next destination, and he has whittled down his reported trade wish list to the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Angels. Among those teams, the Cardinals third baseman will help improve the third-base situations of the Mets, Red Sox, and Angels — with the first two being teams with contending aspirations in 2025.
Alas, Morosi said that it’s not quite easy to point out a team that still has room in their budget to take on the $74 million left on Arenado’s contract for the next three seasons. Moreover, Alex Bregman, the best third baseman on the market, remains a free agent and is a more impactful addition than Arenado is, further complicating matters for the Cardinals.
“We ask ourselves, how many teams in baseball on the 29th of January have that kind of payroll capacity and flexibility to add a player who is candidly coming off a down offensive year?” Morosi added.
Nevertheless, Arenado was still an unequivocally good player last season, and he remains a top defender at the hot corner, so it should only be a matter of time before the Cardinals find a suitable trade.
The post MLB rumors: Why Cardinals are struggling to find Nolan Arenado trade appeared first on ClutchPoints.