What Nolan Arenado Could Bring Cardinals Back In Blockbuster Trade

Will the Cardinals get a blockbuster trade done?

Sep 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) hits an RBI single off San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp (65) during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

It seems like a near guarantee that the St. Louis Cardinals will end up trading star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

That doesn't do much to help with leverage. Arenado is an eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and is just 33 years old, but everyone knows the Cardinals want to move him. St. Louis wasn't shy about this fact and John Mozeliak specifically made it known that the club is shopping him.

Arenado is owed $74 million over the next three years, which is significantly less than someone like Alex Bregman will get this offseason. Bregman is over two years younger but is a comparable option at least for teams looking for a third base boost.

Teams should be jumping at the opportunity to land a player like Arenado, but his no-trade clause also hurts his trade value. The Cardinals don't have much leverage because everyone knows St. Louis wants to get rid of him plus only certain teams would be of interest for Arenado.

Because of this, if the Cardinals are able to trade him, they likely won't get much back. The Cardinals will have to pitch in money. St. Louis tried to ship Arenado to the Houston Astros and it was reported the Cardinals would've sent some cash in the deal if the star slugger didn't shut down the trade.

MLB.com's John Denton recently went on "BK & Ferrario" on 101ESPN and said that he heard the Astros deal could've been more prospect-related rather than current big league talent.

A deal will fully revolve around how much money the Cardinals are willing to chip in. The more money the Cardinals add, the better the prospect return. Last year the Cardinals flipped one year of Tyler O'Neill for a big-league reliever and minor-league prospect. If an Arenado deal gets done, it wouldn't be shocking to see some combination of Arenado and cash for maybe a team's top 10 prospect and then one or two project prospects. It will all depend on Arenado's preferences and how much money St. Louis wants to chip in.

More MLB: Cardinals Loosely Linked To Projected $12 Million Future Hall Of Famer