The St. Louis Cardinals have been busy this offseason. On Saturday, they signed right-hander Dustin May to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2027. They also traded Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox earlier this winter.
They have been busy discussing trades for players such as Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras and JoJo Romero, but trading them is not their top priority. Trading Nolan Arenado is at the top of their list.
However, there’s one problem. Katie Woo of The Athletic notes that while trading him is their top priority, they have run into a major roadblock in their pursuit of a deal.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
Cardinals Face Major Hurdle In Nolan Arenado Trade Talks
“Trading Nolan Arenado also remains high on the team’s priority list, but a market for Arenado — who also has a full no-trade clause — has yet to form. The Cardinals still believe they’ll find a suitor for their All-Star third baseman, with Bloom telling St. Louis-based reporters in Orlando, Fla., on Monday that releasing Arenado is ‘not an option,’” Woo wrote.
The major problem is that there are three third baseman on the free agent market that teams are going to be more interested in. Last offseason, Alex Bregman’s market held up Arenado’s.
This year, Bregman is a free agent once again, and so is Eugenio Suarez. Munetaka Murakami has also been added to that list, so Arenado is essentially at the bottom of the pecking order.
In the end, it might take a little while for the Cardinals to actually find a suitor for Arenado, and if it stretches into the later months of the offseason, then they might ultimately end up being forced to hold onto him until the trade deadline.
Arenado struggled in 2025, hitting just .237 with 12 home runs and a .666 OPS during the regular season. He also missed some time due to an injury.
This may lead to them ultimately trading Willson Contreras instead and opening up first base for Alec Burleson, but it should be interesting to see what kind of market forms for Arenado later this offseason, if one forms at all.
