Will the St. Louis Cardinals find a way to get a trade done involving Nolan Arenado during the winter meetings?

Over the next week, we should see movement around the league. The winter meetings are here and the first deal of the week popped up on Monday morning with Mike Soroka reportedly agreeing to a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers.

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Nolan Arenado is a guy to watchEmpty heading

The Cardinals will be a team to watch throughout the week and Arenado has been the subject of trade rumors for a year at this point. There are a lot of variables at play involving the eight-time All-Star, though. First and foremost, Arenado has a no-trade clause. That’s what negatively impacted his trade market last offseason, but it has been said over and over this offseason that he’s more open to waiving it. But, Arenado has two years left on his deal as well. On top of this, there are third base options available in free agency, including Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suárez.

Cardinals insider Derrick Goold, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, gave a look at the Arenado market before the winter meetings.

“For the second consecutive winter, a goal for the Cardinals is to seek out and find a ‘fit’ for Arenado, the 10-time Gold Glove-winner and future Hall of Famer who has two years remaining on his contract,” Goold wrote. “Arenado used his no-trade clause to veto a move to Houston a year ago and made it clear that he would accept only a deal to very few teams. This winter and coming off a down year offensively, Arenado has notified the Cardinals he’ll expand the amount of teams he’ll consider. Both sides say they want to make a deal palatable and possible. Bloom has been active in canvassing the clubs for interest and communicating with Arenado and his representative about the options. To grease the negotiations for a deal, the Cardinals remain willing to cover some of the $37 million still owed on Arenado’s contract through 2027…

“The available free agents shape the market for Arenado and possibly what the Cardinals have to cover to move ahead of the free agents and expedite a deal. The Red Sox and Tigers, like last year, are considering third basemen, as are the Angels and the Mariners. Of that group, only Boston was of interest to Arenado a year ago, sources described at the time. The Phillies and Diamondbacks are also positioned to seek a third baseman so that the list of potential teams interested could expand, too.”

There’s plenty of work to do, but unfortunately no answer in sight for St. Louis.