Report: Cardinals may trade millions of dollars just to move Nolan Arenado

The St. Louis Cardinals may be on the verge of doing exactly what the Colorado Rockies did a few years ago; trading Nolan Arenado and a stash of cash to another club.

According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Cardinals are willing to oblige to Arenado’s trade request but the deal might only come for the right price. Arenado already blocked an earlier deal this winter that would’ve sent him to Houston. But he would waive his no-trade clause for a move to Boston. The Red Sox already have a solid third baseman in Rafael Devers which gives them even more reason to be hesitant about taking on the remaining three years and $64 million on Arenado’s contract.

Passan reports that the Cardinals might have to send as much as $32 million to the Red Sox in order to make the deal happen:

Moving Arenado could force St. Louis to eat upward of half the money he is owed. Short of that, Boston’s interest is iffy. Such posturing, of course, is the domain of the winter — and when something looks dead one day, it can come back to life the next. (Pete Alonso’s return to the Mets, for example.) Still, for a team that values its analytical model as much as Boston does, deviating from it is not Boston’s style. The Red Sox will set a number they’re willing to take on. And either there will or won’t be a deal.

The Cardinals have yet to spend a dollar this offseason. They already let former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt walk to the Yankees. St. Louis has missed the playoffs two years in a row and the Arenado era has not gone as hoped. Arenado’s run in St. Louis might not even be over despite the trade request given how hard of a time teams are having completing a deal. The third baseman could return for a very awkward fifth season, with spring training starting very soon.

If he does end up in Boston, he would likely play alongside former Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who has been good for the Red Sox when healthy, which has been rare.

Now 33 years old, Arenado isn’t quite the Gold Glove defender he was at the hot corner during the first decade of his career. Last year he even missed a ninth-straight trip to All-Star Game, an absence he had not experienced since his sophomore season. Arenado’s second season for the Birds was his best as a pro, but that was already back in 2022. So what does he have left in the tank for the final three years of his contract that he initially signed with the Rockies for eight years worth $260 million back in 2019? It’s the same contract that he was traded under that Colorado famously sent $50 million St. Louis’ way just to get off the third baseman. A trade that has not really worked out for either side but has had dire consequences for Colorado, who have lost 100-plus games twice since the deal as the fanbase has basically become apathetic.

No doubt one of the players of his generation, Arenado has had very little playoff success and it’s this that stemmed part of the falling out with the Rockies and seems to be coming into play with the Cards. Where will the right-handed slugger bop next and heck, will he repair his relationship with the Rockies and go to Cooperstown in purple? A lot has changed very quickly for Arenado—all the while his old club is still stuck being losers.