The Cardinals are activating veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the Reds, as noted by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Arenado is on the ten-day injured list, meaning a corresponding move will only be needed to clear space for him on the club’s active roster.
Arenado, 34, was perhaps the most frequently speculated upon trade candidate of the 2024-25 offseason. Although multiple teams, including the Astros and Red Sox, were reportedly involved in negotiations to deal for him, Arenado remained in St. Louis for the 2025 season after blocking a trade to Houston and Boston’s decision to pivot towards signing Alex Bregman. Unfortunately for St. Louis, Arenado’s fifth season with the Cardinals figures to go down as the worst of his career. In 96 games this year, Arenado has hit just .235/.294/.366 with ten home runs.
That’s undeniably lackluster offensive production for an everyday player in the big leagues, and it’s surely all the more frustrating to produce at that level for an eight-time All-Star and multi-time MVP finalist like Arenado. The veteran’s bat slipping has been accompanied by a similar decline in his defense. The stalwart who once won ten consecutive NL Gold Glove awards at third base was worth just +2 Outs Above Average on the infield this year. His +6 Defensive Runs Saved is a bit more impressive than that, but still leaves him in a three-way tie for eighth in the majors among third basemen.
Arenado’s disappointing season has come alongside an equally disappointing one for the Cardinals. With a 72-77 record, St. Louis finds itself in fourth place in the division and seems unlikely to even reach .500 this year, marking their second sub-.500 campaign in three years after they pushed just over .500 with an 83-79 record last season. The team’s future is in flux somewhat with longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak set to step aside after this season and hand the reins of the organization off to Chaim Bloom, former chief baseball officer of the Red Sox who was announced as Mozeliak’s successor in St. Louis last year.
With a new head of baseball operations set to take over, the Cardinals are surely hoping to finish on a solid note. Those efforts will now include Arenado, who was sidelined by a shoulder strain in late July and has been on the shelf ever since. Nolan Gorman has handled every day duties at the hot corner in Arenado’s absence, but with the veteran set to return tomorrow it seems as though Gorman will move into a timeshare with super utility man Brendan Donovan at second base and perhaps pull occasional starts away from Ivan Herrera at DH. Gorman has a 95 wRC+ overall this year after he was sidelined by an injury around the All-Star break, and since his return in August has found himself mired in a slump on offense.
Between his contract and his NTC, he’s not going anywhere.
The contract isn’t that bad anymore. It’s only 2/$31m, and the NTC runs out after next season. I bet they don’t have to cover much of that to get him moved. Some, but not even half.
Yeah, but that also gives the Cardinals more reason to just keep him if he’s still going to picky about his NTC. His offense should rebound back close to league average now that he’s healthy again.
Lanidrac: Unless, of course, it doesn’t.
Just imagine, if Bregman doesn’t greedily reject Detroit’s and Houston’s contract offer last off-season then the Sox would have gotten stuck with Arenado’s disastrous season.
Of course if Breggy Beer Man leaves Boston this winter then Arenado will probably come to Boston. Breslow loves players who are injury plagued and coming off bad seasons. 🤪
If Bregman leaves i imagine Marcelo Mayer gets first crack at being the full time Third Baseman next season
Rsox – I’m thinking Mayer will play SS if Story opts out, or 2B. I don’t think KC or VG will be playing 2B.
Ceddane may be at 2B if they don’t figure out the OF logjam over the winter
Rsox – I’d be all for that, but I think it’s highly likely Abreu or Duran get moved.
Story isn’t opting out.
Yeah, I’m not sure he gets anything close to the money he would be leaving on the table to enter the open market after one healthy season in the last 4
Rsox – Look at the upcoming free agent market, and look at the history of free agent signings.
For example deGrom got a monster contract immediately after two years in which he averaged 13 games a season.
FPG: Seems like Bregman got a better deal in Boston, so who are you to judge him?
Blue – $93M NPV is better than $171.5M?
Good night sir.
FPG: There is an opt-out as well. Unless you know every detail, you’re in no position to judge.
Blue – No 💩, it’s been mentioned by me and many others only about a million times. For you to assume I wouldn’t know about the opt-outs, especially considering I’ve mentioned it constantly, is incomprehensible.
And with the amount of knowledge I have and the superior critical thinking skills I possess, I damn well am in position to comment on the topic.
Now do you have anything relevant to add or are you just bored and looking for someone to wrongly criticize? If it’s the latter, I’m not interested dude.
Just in time for the playoff push.
Yeah really. Just let him get started on his golf game at this point. Isn’t there somebody else they would rather see play?
Gorman has been so bad at 3B. He can’t come in on any ball. Saggese now at short because of Winn’s absence. Not promoting Wetherholt; Prieto looked inauspicious; Fermin continues to make mistakes. So, no. Haha.
If he can be showcased and play well/healthy remaining two weeks of this season, there is a possibility he could be shopped to another team, if the Cardinals eat a bunch of the contract.
He wants a ring and the chances he’s going to get one here in the next two years are looking pretty slim.
I am guessing it’s going to take more than the remainder of this season, but at some point, things could shift in the Cardinals’ favor to move him.
Everyone is motivated to make something happen, no doubt.
Hopefully, he accepts a trade over the winter, so he can finish his career with a team, who’s ownership puts fans and winning before profits. It’s not happening in St. Louis with Billionaire Bill DeWallet.
He seems to spend when he thinks the team can win. Can’t blame a guy for not throwing money at a team that doesn’t have it
@Garywally57
Dodgers, Mets and Yankees don’t look like they’ll be in the playoffs long this year.
Mets? Don’t look like they’re making the playoffs let alone not being there long.
They’re all in the playoffs currently, I think. Unless the Mets have dropped out.
Mets are still in the third wildcard spot which they had last season. The main thing is getting in. The Cards are an extreme longshot but it’s not impossible.
Gary – Well that rules out Boston.
And he raised season ticket prices significantly for next season.
Wow, you are so wrong that it’s hard to say anything in response. You must’ve miseed the whole thing about shifting spending into better player development and using a transition year to sort things out, along with how DeWitt normally does spend quite well for the market.
DeWitt is one of the better owners in MLB, and we’re glad to have him.
When Gorman was hitting well, I would have criticized this move. But Gorman has turned back into a pumpkin anyway, so who cares? Let Arenado have the last two weeks if that’s what he wants. I just want to get the season over and start celebrating Mo’s exit.
Gorman needs to find a nice Change in Scenery away from St.Louis.
The change will probably be good for both parties!!!!!!
To be fair, Arenado was playing hurt for about a month before he went on the IL. His offensive numbers were much more respectable before that point.
Why in the world would they bench Herrera in favor of Gorman??
I think they meant Arenado would pull DH starts from Herrera, but yeah that’s not going to happen more than once or twice at most over the rest of the season, and even then Herrera might play LF.
@bass Showcasing Arenado for a POSSIBLE trade is the goal at this point in the season. Showing his shoulder is healthy is the most important thing.
Everybody needs at-bats and Arenado being back will have a ripple effect for guys like Herrera and Gorman, but trying to get out from under the Arenado contract is the priority.
Benching Herrera in Favor of Gorman is as bout as smart as waisting money on Low Hanging Fruit —- instead of investing that money in Quality players and Ace Pitching!!!
With Winn out for the rest of the season, it’s likely that we’ll be seeing Arenado at 3B, Gorman at 2B, and Donovan at SS for most of the remaining games. There’s no reason to timeshare Gorman and Donovan when they can just play all three of them most of the time.
Saggese hit cleanup today. I think he’ll continue to start at short.
That was only because Arenado wasn’t back yet, Contreras had the day off, and he’s at least a better RH hitter than Walker. Even then, I have no idea why it wasn’t Fermin taking that spot instead.
There is absolutely no reason to start Saggese over Donovan, Arenado, or Gorman except when giving one of those three a day off.. The only reason he’ll even keep his roster spot over Fermin is because Fermin can’t play SS.
I could see Arenado at 3B, Saggesse at SS and Donovan at 2B. Gorman can pinch hit the rest of the way.
@Landirac Saggesse becoming a super-utility guy feels like the future move to me, at this point.
Saggesse has made some progress this year with his bat, and like you said, he can play SS in a pinch. Plus, he has more remaining minor league options than Fermin and more projected power/overall upside.
Saggesse has some ability in the outfield (like Fermin), but Saggesse has 15-20 dinger power projections, at this point. And if the Cards trade Donovan, Saggesse seems like a better long-term fit at 2nd.
Lots of moving parts!
Maybe for next year, but he’s going to have to earn it. The Cardinals aren’t trading Donovan, and it will still be difficult to trade Arenado. Winn will be back at SS. Who knows what they do with Gorman? Meanwhile, Weatherholt should be ready sometime next year.
@n2thecards Maybe against lefties, but Gorman still needs to play against the righties at the very least for the rest of 2025.
If JJ plays well when he gets here, Donnie could be on the block at the deadline. Gorman would have to be playing well, too, but it’s looking pretty possible to me.
And they’d also have to move Nado for this somewhat unlikely scenario to happen 😊 Now we just have to play the games and see!
There’s no reason to trade an All-Star in his prime still under team control until 2027 when he can just switch positions instead.
Besides, the Cardinals are more likely to be buyers at the deadline next year.
In that specific scenario, Gorman either becomes the primary DH or is the one traded, or Donovan primarily moves to one of the corner outfield spots with either Walker or Nootbaar traded or injured.
Walker is really bad
His trade value is underwater. Cardinals are bad.
It will be refreshing to see a real third baseman for the rest of the season. Gorman has improved a little there while being given “runway” but he is not good. If they do move Arenado then Gorman will continue to play the hot corner.
Who knows if they keep Gorman either? Maybe Donovan, Saggese, or even a trade acquisition plays 3B next year? Heck, 3B was also Walker’s original position, but he still needs to show significant improvement with his bat to get regular playing time.
The only question is how much salary the Cardinals would have to eat. It’s not a matter of “get more” it is “give up less”.
How awesome would it be if Wetherholt took over 3B from Arenado after ’26?
I’d rather keep Weatherholt at his natural position of 2B and play Donovan at 3B, perhaps as early as Opening Day next year, although either way they’d still need to find an acceptable trade deal for Arenado.
As an undersized guy who doesn’t throw that hard or have great range, I don’t see Donnie being a good fit at 3rd every day. Also, he’s already had UCL surgery on his throwing arm, so that spot sounds out of the question.
Isn’t JJ naturally a SS? Not to split hairs but I think he could be good at 3rd. We’ve all heard that Walker is not a defensively gifted fielder and no one else is knocking down the door to play the hot corner. I like the versatility of Saggesse, though, to spell whoever plays there regularly.
At some point, it seems like JJ is the more logical fit for 3rd. His arm projects to be solid and he projects to have decent power for what is ideally a defensive position with slug. JJ has had about a dozen starts in Memphis at third, so the Cards definitely seem like they are exploring the idea.
JJ has to prove he can thrive in the majors, but the way he’s tearing through the minors, I’m very encouraged.
Gorman has flashed some good leather at third after his miserable defensive start, but we all know Gorman still has to hit to earn his place.
LOTS of moving parts! Go Cards!
I never thought I’d ever say this!!!!
I’ve been a Cardinals Fan for over 50 Years!!!Watching the Cardinals attempt to play baseball —- here at the end of 2025 —-
—- “Makes me want to Throw Up!!!!”
Even with Nolan Arenado returning—- “there isn’t a single player on the team, worth the price of admission” —- to go see play at Busch Stadium!!!!
As it appears —- Because Marmol is allowing ALL OF HIS STARTING PITCHERS —- give up 5 to 6 runs a game before he takes them out of a game —- It appears Oli Marmol is suddenly dedicated to the Cardinals losing every game they can down the stretch —— on purpose!!!
That is sure not the type of Manager the Cardinals will need to turn things around in the future!!!!!