After more than a yearlong residency on the rumor mill, Nolan Arenado‘s time in St. Louis is over. The Cardinals announced Tuesday that they’ve traded Arenado and cash to the D-backs in exchange for minor league right-hander Jack Martinez (Arizona’s eighth-round pick in the 2025 draft). The Diamondbacks are reportedly on the hook for a total of $11MM of the remaining $42MM owed to Arenado over the next two seasons. The Cardinals owe the remaining $31MM. Arizona’s 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now at capacity with the addition of Arenado.
With the Cardinals entering a rebuild under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, trading the 34-year-old Arenado (35 in April) has been a primary goal this offseason. St. Louis has finally achieved that goal but paid a hefty price to do so. Arizona will be on the hook for just $5MM this season and $6MM next year.
Three years ago, a salary dump of Arenado would’ve been hard to imagine. He was a National League MVP finalist after hitting .293/.358/.533 with 30 home runs and his typical brand of elite defense during that 2022 season. His offense slipped considerably in 2023 (.266/.315/.459) but was still north of league average. It dipped to about average in 2024, however, and plummeted well below par this past season.
In 436 plate appearances with the Cardinals in 2025, Arenado turned in an anemic .237/.289/.377 batting line. By measure of wRC+, he was 16% worse than an average hitter at the plate. Arenado’s 12 home runs were his lowest in a full season since his rookie year back in 2013. This year’s 6.4% walk rate was his lowest since 2015. When considering that his 34.1% chase rate on pitches off the plate was also his worst since 2015, that’s not particularly surprising. Arenado’s 11.2% strikeout rate was one of the lowest in MLB and one of the best in his career, but he also posted his highest-ever infield fly rate — 16.5% of his fly-balls were harmless pop-ups — and recorded some of the worst exit velocity and hard-hit numbers of his career.
Suffice it to say, Arenado’s decline at the plate has been steep. He still possesses plus contact skills but will need to scale back his chase rate and cut out some of those weak pop-ups if he’s to improve in a meaningful way. Fortunately for Arenado, he’s going to a more favorable offensive environment than the one he’s been calling home in St. Louis. While Phoenix’s Chase Field isn’t the hitters’ haven it once was, it plays largely neutral to right-handed power now — a stark gain for Arenado relative to St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, which is the fifth-worst park for right-handed home run power over the past three years, per Statcast’s Park Factors.
Prior to adding Arenado, the Diamondbacks had been involved in the market for Alex Bregman. A match there always seemed like something of a long shot, given Arizona’s intent to reduce payroll in 2026, but the interest was legitimate. The Snakes quickly pivoted and brought in a much more affordable option to hold down the hot corner for the next two seasons. Arenado’s glove has also taken some steps back in recent years, but he’s still an above-average defender. He’ll give manager Torey Lovullo a quality pair of defenders on the left side of the infield, joining breakout shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in that regard.
Acquiring Arenado leaves the Diamondbacks with little opportunity for former No. 6 overall pick and top prospect Jordan Lawlar. Perdomo’s breakout appeared to push Lawlar down the defensive spectrum to third base, but he looked overmatched both with the glove and in the batter’s box during his first few tests against MLB pitching. The D-backs were considering giving him some time in the outfield, and perhaps with Jake McCarthy now in Colorado following this weekend’s trade, there’ll be a clearer path to that experiment. If not, Lawlar has a minor league option remaining and can be sent back to Triple-A (where he’s routinely thrashed opposing pitchers) — or even included in a potential trade package to address needs elsewhere on the roster.
Even with the Snakes looking to cut payroll, the addition of that fraction of Arenado’s contract amounts to little more than a footnote. He’s effectively replacing a league-minimum player, so this trade adds a net $4.2MM to the team’s books. Per RosterResource’s estimates, that brings Arizona’s payroll just north of $170MM. That’s more than $17MM shy of last year’s Opening Day payroll. An exact target isn’t clear, but there should be room to add a reliever or two, at the very least, and further trades could always change the payroll outlook one way or another.
If the money changing hands (and the frequent reporting in the year-plus leading up to today’s trade) wasn’t indicative enough that this amounts to a salary dump for St. Louis, the return should be. Martinez hasn’t pitched an inning in professional ball yet. The Diamondbacks selected him with their eighth-round pick last year out of Arizona State University. His $167K signing bonus checked in south of his No. 243 overall selection’s $223K slot value.
A 6’4″, 215-pound righty, Martinez started his college career playing Division-III ball before transferring twice and ending up in the Sun Devils’ rotation as a senior. He was tagged for a 5.47 ERA through 15 starts during his senior year. It’s not an encouraging number, but Martinez punched out 32.3% of his opponents and can run his fastball up to 97 mph, per MLB.com’s scouting report. He has a four-pitch mix with a changeup serving as his best secondary offering, but Martinez is a pure lottery ticket for the Cardinals’ reshaped player development department.
A year ago, the Cardinals thought they had worked out a trade to send Arenado the Astros. Arenado, however, invoked his no-trade protection to nix that arrangement, reportedly due to reservations about the Astros’ commitment to contending; Houston had just traded Kyle Tucker to the Cubs days prior to the nixed Arenado deal. Heading into the current offseason, Arenado was forthcoming about the fact that he’d be more open-minded to offseason trade scenarios than he was last winter.
That clearly seems to be the case, but the D-backs might’ve been a viable landing spot for him even if he were continuing to remain selective. Arizona may be scaling back payroll, but their signings of Merrill Kelly and Michael Soroka — plus their reported interest in the aforementioned Bregman — all signal a commitment to try to field a contender in 2026. Beyond that, Arenado is a Southern California native with a home in Arizona. There are geographic benefits that surely played into his decision to waive that no-trade clause for a move to the desert.
For the Cardinals, moving Arenado now clears a relatively nominal sum from the long-term books and furthers their goal of creating opportunities for younger players. It remains to be seen whether Arenado’s third base reps will go to Nolan Gorman, top prospect JJ Wetherholt or even former top prospect/third baseman-turned-outfielder Jordan Walker. Whoever takes up regular work at the hot corner will be a more viable long-term option at the position than Arenado is as he enters his mid-30s.
The trade of Arenado is the third of a big-name veteran on a large contract for the Cardinals this offseason. They’ve already traded Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Red Sox. Those players were shipped out in separate deals, with St. Louis eating notable portions of money in those trades, too. Between Gray, Contreras and now Arenado, the Cardinals will be shelling out $59MM over the next two seasons to three players who are no longer on their books.
Eating that amount of money to facilitate the trades of three former All-Stars is unprecedented, but the Cardinals have been clear about their intent to rebuild the organization from the ground up, modernizing the player development department, analytics staff and various other components of the team’s baseball operations setup — all while affording younger and more controllable players the opportunity to establish themselves in the majors. With three pricey veterans gone, much of the heavy lifting has been taken care of, but the Cardinals are still widely expected to trade second baseman Brendan Donovan and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero before the season begins.
Katie Woo of The Athletic first reported that the two sides were in serious discussions. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona Sports broke the news that an agreement was in place and added that Martinez was going back to St. Louis. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first reported details on the cash changing hands.
Heck ya – good for both sides. We’ll see if ownership is willing to eat enough money to get anything worth while back in the return !
Both teams played hard
I’m shocked on the return to St, Louis and I’m questioning why Boston didn’t pivot back. While his bat is not the same, his glove is fine and with so little money being on the hook for, they could have double-downed on Bichette.
Leave Bichette alone! If he’s gone please be a NL team.
Because his bat was terrible in 2025, 87 OPS+ is brutal.
Different team, new season, playing for a contender again , etc. With the cost being minimal, cut him if he doesn’t rebound.
Yes I think so. Light the competitive furnace in his heart and I think he can give you a little more. Maybe 2 war
Dewey- I agree. I hope that they were at least on the phone after Bregman left. Not sure i would’ve wanted Arenado, but he is a very capable defender.
More importantly, I have lost faith completely in Breslow. I guess making a lot of trades doesnt make you good at making trades. Based on this deal it appears as though Chaim got the better of Breslow on both of our trades with him.
Sad, time will tell on the deals. I actually trust Breslow and have cintinued to blame ownership. DD left because of the spending shift. He saw the handwriting on the wall. bloom’s fault was his lack of developing pitching but his approach to take the best available aided Breslow’s ability to make trades now. The fact that Anthony signed last year is big in my eyes. Breslow understands if players are not signed early, Henry’s aversions will price them out later. Rafaela and Bello have been good or at least fair deals and the only one not looking good right now is Campbell. Three out of four as of today is pretty good.
In the previous article talking about the Red Sox pursuit of Bregman mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/details-of-red-sox-purs… it mentioned they had narrowed their focus to five infield targets, and Arenado wasn’t on that list. I think they just weren’t very interested in him.
Lanidrac, the cost obviously got lower and apparently the Sox as you mentioned weren’t interested but they IMO should have been.
The cost got lower because the Red Sox and the Angels were not interested in Arenado.
So it’s a catch 22. If the Red Sox had pivoted back to Arenado, perhaps the Cards would ask for more back or pay less of the contract.
Remember SoCal Bloom knows the Sox system. There had to be a player or two that may be lottery tickets but because of his knowledge that he could have gambled on over this return. I’m hoping the Sox are closer on other moves that have not been mentioned.
I doubt they get much for him even if they eat 80 or more percent. But good move nonetheless. He needs a hitters park and the Cards need to open the spot (3b).
It’s a win if they cleared 80% of the salary.
No reason for STL to have Arenado on the roster.
I dont think you understood who I meant was eating 80%. Its the Cardinals, but still a good move.
I’m still waiting for whats his name to tell us that the cardinals are not entering a rebuild, and blame the stupid cubs fan writers on this site.
Baltimore: Agree, no reason.
Side note: who would have thought, three years ago, that Nolan probably isn’t even going to be a HOF’er?!
Not understanding this. Arenado has had his OPS + go from 151,108,102,87 over the last 4 years. He will be 35. Surely they can find someone with some upside to put up an ops+ of 87 or more.
The Dbacks have Lawlar and Alexander as young 3b options currently, so they have the upside. And given that, it’s unlikely a superior player would want to play in Arizona without a guarantee of a full time job.
Arenado is still a string defender, so he can platoon with their young pieces. If he has a miraculous bounce back offensively then they can deal him at the trade deadline for a nice return.
3B looks to me as a lesser need than SP, RP, 1B and OF. It will be interesting to see if those makes the Dbacks more willing to trade Marte for other needs given that Alexander/Lawlar could shift to 2nd.
He still has a no trade clause.
@Bivouac-Sal
Do you have a source confirming he has retained his no trade clause? It’s possible, but it’s not uncommon for the clause to be negotiated out upon trade. Sonny Gray did this recently when traded to the Red Sox.
No I don’t have a source. It’s more common for all contract terms to flow in a trade. Ask Hazen.
In typical contracts, all contract clauses flowing is the norm. But with no-trade clauses, it’s no longer the case as the player’s leverage typically leads to altered contract terms. This would be the third player the Cardinals have traded with a no-trade clause this off-season – the first two had changes made to their contracts.
According to Cott’s Contracts: …aukee 2016 (4-111) (St. Mary’s) $536,400 signing bonus (slot amount) agent: Boras Corp. ML service: 7.049 Nolan Arenado 3b 8 years/$260M (2019-26), plus 2027 extension 8 years/$260M (2019-26) signed extension with Colorado 2/26/19 19:$26M, 20-24:$35M, 25:$32M, 26:$27M Arenado may opt out of contract after 2021 season full no-trade protection award bonuses: $100,000 for MVP ($50,000 for 2nd-5th in vote). $100,000 for Comeback Player of Year. $…
Dunno if this has been updated.
Mike Hazen confirmed it in his media session this afternoon.
The Cots deals list the updated clauses after the trade within the contract breakdown; you can see this listed for the Arenado trade from Colorado to St. Louis. There hasn’t been anything reported regarding this yet, so likely nothing to do until it is – usually Cots takes the info from the AP as the primary source for contract details. I’m sure the details will come out within the next couple of days.
I’ll wait here.
I think at $11M for 2 years it’s worth the gamble. If he’s awful at the plate AND in the field, they just buy out his contract not a big deal. But IF he’s at least a 100+ OPS player, he more than pays off his salary.
And like WCSoxFan said, they have a couple capable 3B in Lawlar (who still needs a lot of learning) and Blaze who rocketed up to a starter last year. I imagine Blaze will go to LF or CF though, at least until Gurriel is back.
Having a top rated prospect like Lawler, it seems only proper to add an obstacle to his playing time. So much for upside.
@Stymeedome- Lawlar has shown little to no ability in his at bats or time on the field. It is in very limited time with only 97 at bats, but he went hit less in like 50 at bats his 2nd turn up. Lawlar is starting in AAA if I’m Lovullo. He only gets time if there’s injuries and even then, I might only throw him in the OF cuz he tends to make very easy mistakes with the glove.
Lawlar’s .182/.257/.288/.545 line with mediocre defense showed pretty clearly that he was not ready. AAA numbers, especially PCL numbers, rarely translate to the majors. This gives him a mentor to show him the right way to play the game and takes the pressure off. With Arenado at 3B, Marte at 2B, and Del Castillo penciled in at DH he will get plenty of AB.
Ducey, st worst you have a solid glove. A change of scenery though could reinvigorate his bat. I’m not expecting his MVP type bat but something in between it and the last two years.
It was down to 87 only because he was playing hurt in July. Throw out that month like everyone should, and he had a much better OPS+ of 95 last season.
Win-win deal. This is all Nolie was worth to another team as many of us said. Hope he does well in the Arizona sun.
There is essentially no return.
The return is not having Nolan Arenado in your lineup.
Reminds me of the scene in Moneyball…
Billy Beane: We got a problem, David?
David Justice: No, it’s okay. I know your routine. It’s patter, it’s for effect. But it’s for them, all right? That **** ain’t for me.
Billy Beane: Oh, you’re special?
David Justice: You’re paying me seven million bucks a year, man, so yeah, maybe I am, a little bit.
Billy Beane: No, man, I ain’t paying you seven. Yankees are paying half your salary. That’s what the New York Yankees think of you. They’re paying you three and a half million dollars to play against them.
The new Evan Longoria.
Arenado still being in the lineup would’ve been just fine now that he’s healthy again. The problem was the logjam he had created.
They included a ton of money ($26 mil), but didn’t get a lot in return. One pitching prospect who has yet to pitch in pro ball. High K, low hit guy, but with a ton of walks and high ERA in college as well. Basically a project. It was all about clearing room for more of the young guys in the end.
There was this really annoying cards fan that insisted they aren’t looking to salary dump Nolan and wouldn’t hanlve to eat much and would get back some prospects. where is he now? haha
Prob out with his friends, not thinking about it.
I’ve seen a few over the past few months who actually thought we were going to get a legit return for him. Silly. Happy with the deal we made. It accomplished what we needed to accomplish.
The whole point of hiring Bloom is to restock the farm and unload as much salary as possible so I’d say he’s doing exactly what they hired him to do so far. The whole point of the trades was to clear the decks and start over. Mission accomplished..
Restocked with a giant question mark is all I am saying. We will not know if he is any good for probably 3-4 years. Lots can go wrong in that time. A maybe is not a win when it comes to restocking the farm system.
Prospects are just that. Prospects. They are all and unproven commodity and never a guarantee of success of any sort
The guy hasn’t even had his first draft yet. Impatient much? It’s not like they had a giant glut of tradable pieces to bring back A+ talent here. All he had to deal was salary dumps from the previous boss.
Clear the decks, yes, but dumping salary was never a priority. Even here the Cards didn’t actually dump much salary and made the move mostly to clear up playing time at 3B.
Mike-
You are on this site for a reason and I would think part is because what the writers on here say. Even Steve Adams in today’s chat was not impressed with what they got. Just because you do not agree with what I said does not mean I am wrong. I am not the only poster not impressed with the return. We all knew it was not going to be massive. We will not know for at least three years if it did the Cardinals any good.
What exactly WERE you expecting back for a washed 35 year old with a tremendously overpaid contract? The D Backs 1,2 and 3 prospects? Look it’s time to leave Oz and get back to Kansas Dorothy! No disrespect but get real man.
Hey Mike, sorry for the off topic but wanted to get your take on the Bears and your thoughts on how far they can go and that QB you have is certainly something else entirely, particularly in the 4th quarter. The dude has an arm.
ISOB- It’s fallen OK for them so far. They have the best possible seeding for them right now. Stafford has sucked in Soldiers Field even when he was healthy and he’s supposed to have a bum flipper. I can’t believe they’re home dogs to the Rams. Now if it goes 49ers take out Seattle, Bears take out Rams and now it’s 49ers in Soldiers Field in January. Advantage Bears. If Seattle wins and the Bears have to go to Seattle then the odds go way down. Actually the Bears play the last game of the weekend so they’ll know before they the the field. I’ll be watching both games with great interest and my defibrillator next to me for the Bears game like usual.
Not sure it was good for either team really. I give the advantage to the Diamondbacks as Arenado is a potential plus for them. The Cardinals get a maybe back. It is better than what the Twins got for Correa but still very much and uncertainty that might not pan out.
The prospect is unlikely to pan out as more than a depth reliever but that wasn’t the point. It gives them another $11MM to reallocate elsewhere and opens up a roster spot. That’s where the value was for STL. Arenado wouldn’t build anymore value riding the bench and taking up a roster spot.
I seriously doubt that $11m will be spent during rebuilding years. The Cards FO has saved money in better years for a “war chest” and failed to spend it. Post-2022 has eroded a lot of trust between the fans and ownership.
This is probably a lose-lose trade. DBacks are gambling Arenado’s got more production in him than $11m and a roster spot. Cards are gambling Gorman or Walker rediscover their rookie seasons, or Fermin or Prieto are real, or start Wetherholt’s clock a little early.
Sad that in 2022 both Goldschmidt and Arenado seem primed to go into the Hall as Cardinals, and now neither probably will.
There’s no such thing as a “war chest” the Cardinals failed to spend. They spent as much as they reasonably could on payroll in both 2023 and 2024. They even bought at the 2024 trade deadline. Then they reallocated money to player development, and now they’re rebuilding as well as dealing with significant revenue cuts from both attendance and their TV deal.
Even then, though, they probably could’ve kept Arenado and still added two or three more free agent pitchers on one-year deals (as they still plan to do) if absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile, Arenado should be worth quite a bit more than $11M over two years now that he’s healthy again so that his bat will probably rebound.
As for the Cardinals, if Gorman still doesn’t work out, there’s also Saggese, or they might keep Donovan.
Arenado has no love for Colorado IF he makes it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Cards cap on. Goldy is probably going as a Dback. If he signs back there this year then it’s probably a done deal.
Not the destination I thought he would land in, but at that price still a good deal for the Diamondbacks. Fills the need for them at 3B. Gives them a mentor that plays the game the right way even if his skills have eroded a bit in the last couple of years.
I had thought the Angels were the ideal location, but it looks like losing the Skags case has taken all the money out of their budget.
3 years ago it would have been hard to believe he would be a salary dump? How? Did he drink from the fountain of youth. Guys who are 36,37 38 can just fall off all of sudden. It’s not hard to believe at all. It’s not hard to believe one or all of the current best free agents aren’t going to be good at 35 either.
Very interesting.. didn’t see Arizona popping up of the Arenado radar.
He is their replacement for Geno but this kind of blocks Lawlar unless they trade Marte
They’re trying Lawlar in CF this year
Ah right. Which also explains why they dumped McCarthy for essentially nothing. Makes sense.
At effectively 2/11 he’s not making that much more than a bench CI. Last year Justin Turner made 1/8 (6 base plus a 2M buyout in the off-season)
Well since the Cardinals are gonna eat most of the money anyways
Yeah for that price he might be a steal. Especially if they have someone that can platoon with him against tough RHP, it’s a great move.
A platoon won’t be necessary now that Arenado is healthy again. He’s not going to make the same mistake of playing hurt for an entire month.
He has always hit well in Arizona.
Last season in his 3 games in Arizona, he hit .091 (1-11) and a .273 OPS.
‘Always’ is a bit of a stretch. He used to hit well in Arizona, back when he used to hit well in a lot of places.
3 games in AZ is also useless but Arenado has been on a real bad trend.
Head scratcher if STL isn’t covering a good bit of this contract.
& they are. 2/11 and a lotto ticket isn’t much of a gamble on AZ’s part. Don’t mind the deal at all for them.
Can we admit he’s not good? Not a Cardinals fan (actually the opposite) but live there so yay regional sports networks. Dude is toast. Mid 30s pretty normal. And no hes not a world class 3b anymore, that’s gone, not sure why its still parroted.
I’ve got 150, I’ve got 118, who’s in at 107, can we get a taker at 87? How about for nothing and we’ll pay his contract?
Arizona has a chance for the playoffs,the Cards do not.Arenado gets a chance to try to resurrect his career,maybe play some playoff games,not a loss in my book.
For sure regarding playoff hopes. Id take my shot in house if the replacement name is lawler however. if you asked me, having watched Nolan fall off. Weatherholdt should be fine in st Louis (probably annoyingly good). Rangers fan, didn’t think the dbacks were hurting for infielders. We are! But poor.
…But an OPS+ of 95 when he wasn’t playing hurt.
He’s still got it to a decent extent, as he proved when he came back from the IL for those final two weeks last season.
95OPS+ doesn’t exactly cut it for a starting 3B. I’d bet his playing time gets eaten into if it’s not spotty from the beginning.
I don’t even get where you got that. He’s a 35m burden, not unlike rendon. I’ll give him that he cares a bit more than the other one. He’s just tailed off. Not abnormal.
Have you checked the OPS of 3B recently? Its not far off.
TB, I think that might be why he didn’t choose to go to the Angels.
League average was 96 OPS+ for 3B. That includes Arenado’s 87 OPS+ for the season as a whole.
It absolutely does cut it when you consider his still excellent defense.
Where I got that? Quite a few places. Here’s a good source: mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-to-begin-rehab-assignme…
“excellent” is a bit of a stretch.
I guess excellent depends on your definition. Arenado was 69th percentile in FRV and 83rd percentile in OAA. About the same as Bregman.
He was much better than the average 3B both in FRV and OAA.
If you prefer DRS, he had a 6 DRS which was 5th best overall in MLB while Matt Chapman had a 5 DRS and was 6th best.
I would say he was much better than the average starting 3B on defense.
I’m not so certain there is much left in the tank for Arenado at soon to be age 35. His bat has been trending downward the last three seasons, and that doesn’t get better with age…without outside help. This seems more like a panic move by the Diamondbacks for the sake of making a move. What’s going to happen if Lawlar has a great spring, and now they have a declining Arenado on the team blocking 3rd? I mean, good for them if this is what they wanted, but I don’t see how this improved the Diamondback.
But it does get better when you’re no longer playing hurt
Interesting. Arenado hurt his shoulder in the game in Chicago on July 4th and missed a few games and was placed on the IL on August 1st for that same injury. That would fit with having 3 bad games on July 18-20 in Arizona.
He has hit 280/.334/.507/.841 in 332 PA at Chase Field. Almost exactly his career numbers overall – .282/.338/.507/.846. That is far more relevant.
I apologize. I saw an article by Derrick Goold after my post that said he hurt his shoulder in a game at Pittsburgh on June 30th.
@canuckleball.Did you heard the part about playing hurt maybe on those 3 games you are only focusing, 280 batting average it’s not good for you? Specially now days, I’m not saying he’s going to do that at 35 but if they can get anything close for what they are paying him I think it’s good.
Well done, Canuck.
Well, he’s changed his name to Arizona. That’s something….
“Beyond that, Arizona is a Southern California native with a home in Arizona.”
With 3 years and $74 million on Aranado, you have to assume the Cardinals are eating a lot. If that is true you have to wonder what prospect is going back?
Its actually 2 years and 32 mil. Rockies pay the other 5. I hope they eat the entire amount and get sonething good in return. Why not? They would habe to pay it anyway if they cant trade him
They were never going to get anything good in return. It was always about clearing a roster spot for a young guy and saving a few million over the next couple of years. Welcome to the big leagues, JJ Weatherholt!
As the article says:
Cardinals pay $26 million
Diamondbacks pay $11 million
Rockies pay $5 million
That = ???
Not $74 million and not $32 million.
The Cards are prioritizing opening up innings for their prospects and salary space. If Arizona takes on enough of it, all it could cost is someone just about PTBNL level.
As far as the Cardinals eating a lot, remember the Rockies sent $51m to them when the trade happened in ’21. So they are well fed.
Have the Dbacks completely given up on Lawlar? If so, what a collapse.
Lawlar might be the newest Marco Luciano
Lawler is clearly going to get run in left field and at DH to start the year. The bat started to flash at the end of the year with consistent AB’s.
12 hits for an avge of .182 is “the bat starting to flash” ??
AfiA
Perhaps reading what they said would be a good idea
Here’s what they said with emphasis on the part that ignored or missed.
“The bat started to flash ***at the end of the year***”
You cited Lawlar’s full season stats which included an 0 for 22 start.
He finished the season (you know, the END OF THE YEAR) with a 141 wRC+ in his last 41 PA’s
fangraphs.com/players/jordan-lawlar/29976/game-log…
Now. I don’t think we can draw much info for 22 PA’s in March and April or 41 PA’s in September, but we can at least be intellectually honest when engaging in discussion.
Can you read? He said “at the end of the year”. In September/October Lawlar’s OPS was .851, which is good.
Lawlar’s 44 PA in September are not a large enough sample size to judge a player’s performance. Especially when it took an unsustainable .429 BAbip to achieve a .308 BA and .851 OPS. Being intellectually honest would be mentioning that by adjusting down to a league average BAbip that his BA would be 86 points lower and his OPS 154 points lower.
W#2
“Being intellectually honest would be mentioning that by adjusting down to a league average BAbip that his BA would be 86 points lower and his OPS 154 points lower.”
So many people just want to argue
READ WHAT I WROTE.
” I don’t think we can draw much info for 22 PA’s in March and April or 41 PA’s in September”
44 PA.
You used the word BUT in the middle of the sentence. That literally means that you don’t believe what preceded it to be true. So you don’t believe the statement “I don’t think we can draw much info for 22 PA’s in March and April or 41 PA’s in September” is true. You were attempting to imply that it is.
To be intellectually honest you need to take into account the fact that he got lucky in a tiny amount of PA. That that 1 month of PA needs to be thrown out the window and we need to see more of him in the majors to have any clue what kind of major league player he will be.
I am going to make two predictions. Take them for what they are worth.
#1 On offense in the majors Lawlar is going to be much closer to what we saw in the neutral Texas League than what we saw in the extremely hitter friendly PCL. Something close to .251/.353/.446/.798 is likely. That is still very good. Just not the nearly 1.000 OPS people seem to believe he will produce for the Diamondbacks because of his time at nearly a mile high in Reno.
#2 – I believe 3B is not Lawlar’s long term home. That he has been used as a Swiss Army knife the past 2 seasons is an indication of his future, playing where needed and playing every day. Think Ha-Seong Kim level of defense at multiple infield positions and possibly even in CF. Alek Thomas would not block him while Arenado definitely will.
W2
“You used the word BUT in the middle of the sentence”
Correct
“That literally means that you don’t believe what preceded it to be true”
What? Incorrect.
At 23, he’s still a work in progress — both at the plate and in the field. CF might not be a bad idea long term for Lawlar, who’s a great athlete with 70/80 speed. If he learns enough about OF play from Dave McKay this spring, he probably platoons with Alek Thomas in CF. When Lawlar first came up at age 21, he looked most comfortable at SS — which is nice to have around.
Hell yes!!! Good spot for Arenado and a cheap deal for the Snakes with Cardinals paying most of the $37 million owed to the player.
Signing Goldy would be another good, cheap addition.
Signing Goldy would be a feel good story for the Snakes, but then they would have two faded stars who always choke in clutch situations.
Love this for Arenado. Hope Goldschmidt comes to Arizona, too. Definitely could see Arenado stats being better in Arizona with that good hitters park.
Him and Marte will get along just fine…
Did they get into a fight or something?
Not yet. Arenado has a history of being a bit of a head-case (although I can’t blame him for wanting his team to be good in Colorado).
I feel like Marte is the most likely candidate he’d clash with, given he’s the tenured franchise veteran who has also had some drama surrounding him. Just speculating though, hopefully this move helps give the Snakes a World Series.
I will be the first to say that Arenado’s skills are rapidly declining. But I have never heard anything about him being a “head-case” or a bad teammate. He is just getting older and his body is declining in a way that impacts former elite players.
There’s a good chance he’s mellowed with age, although his skills are definitely on the downturn.
I just remember footage of him screaming at everyone in the dugout when he was on the Rockies, and reports of him causing tension amongst his teammates. I would need to research to confirm though.
Basically, it is what the D’Backs did a few seasons ago when they brought in Longoria at 35 years old from Tampa Bay to be the solid veteran leader in the clubhouse and take a couple of the younger D’Backs under his wing. Play a little 3rd base maybe DH just be a veteran that is being paid by Colorado and St.Louis to play against them. Not a big investment by the D’Backs.
I think this move could end up better than the 1 year flyer on Longoria, because they get 3 years of Nolan and while his stats have fallen since, he’s still a very good player.
Also, St Louis is paying 75%+ of his salary.
Arenado has never been a head case, great dude. Now his offense in clutch situations….that makes the fans have a head case just watching him pop up.
There have been hints. He was held back in the minors for an entitlement attitude.
Then, he was injured for the end of a season (around COVID I don’t want to look it up) and I believe Kevin Pillar made a comment that the team was more relaxed without Nolan around. Chuck made some veiled comments as well which kind of surprised me.
I think it generally stemmed from desire to play good baseball.
Some are balking at the term “head case.” Like a lot of us, he’s just a bit different.
He has a few tics and twitches when he’s out on the field, I’m not qualified to diagnose ADHD or OCD in someone else, but he’s probably got a little something going on. However, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
He is not a vocal leader. He’d rather lead by example.
On the other hand, he seems like the kind of guy who is quiet and unassuming until it sort of blows up. That’s fine too.
Knowing how the D’Backs want to slash payroll it would not surprise me if the Cardinals would have to pay about at least 50 mil of the remaining 74 mil on the contract.
its 32m after the Rocks 5m. Guessing the Dbacks will be paying 10-15m net.
Reading is fundamental. The amount is stated here multiple times.
It wasnt at first, its been updated
It is not hard to look it up.
There goes the Dodgers winning the division.
lol
I don’t know why people are giving me a thumbs up, I’m a LA fan being sarcastic. I’m not worried about Arenado or the 8 home runs he’s going to hit.
@Diggilindickers Why would you be worried when you can buy the championship trophy lol
Enjoy my team winning another one
Unless you lose your third straight ring to the Red Sox of course…undefeated head to head. 😉
I think Arenado is “fine” as long as he’s not THE guy. Still a good, not great anymore, defender. Hit him lower in lineup. Seems weird that they seem hell-bent on blocking Lawlar though
Lawler was playing SS& CF in the winter league this year. He really struggled at the plate there. They just moved McCarthy. I don’t know if they see Lawlar as a viable 3B.
SS is not happening in AZ. CF is a possibility though.
I see Lawler being more of a super utility player for the D’Backs this season playing numerous positions like Blaze Alexander.
Bob- Lawlar to the outfield? I heard he was taking reps in center.
Arenado has been declining every year since 2022. He had multiple down defense years since then as well. I think he can still be good defensively so that may be fine. I feel like going from Eugenio hitting 36 HRs with a 142 OPS+ before the deadline to Arenado’s 87 OPS+ wet noodle, you will feel the offensive decline. Arizona probably will miss the playoffs 3 years in a row. Their pitching is bottom third and the offense that took them to the world series is in decline.
I believe that one of the off-season statements by Lovello was he does not want the errors in the infield he had last year. Well Arenado fits what the D’Backs want at 3rd a solid glove and take whatever he gives at the plate Lovello will be happy.
“D-backs will only pay Arenado $5MM this year and $6MM next season. That means the Cardinals are eating $26MM of the $37MM they still owe Arenado.”
Nevermind that is a no brainer for the defense alone.
My previous statement was based on you paying him $20m~ a year. You can go get some more offense with the money saved.
Either Jordan outfield. Nolan 1st baseman or Jordan traded for a great deal
Arizona is not sold on Lawlar, I guess. At least not yet. If they get Arenado cheap, they can give Lawlar a little more time to develop.
Cardinals have been desperate to unload him for over a year now, teams have known this for quite sometime and let him sit on the hook. so I wonder why Arizona has decided to bite now.
Probably because the Cards are paying $26 mil of his remaining salary. 2 years fo $11 mil is nothing in this day and age. He probably would have had a few suitors at that price.
This might work out for the D-backs and Arenado will have a good year. Cards are not really a good team under Marmol and I doubt any player who has time under their belt, is happy about being in rebuild mode for a considerable amount of time. That affects your mental thinking.
Greentreant – Ill be a guy who doesn’t feel that the Cardinals rebuild has to take as long as others. It’s a pretty glorious organization and system that can put money into the big league roster a little sooner than some.
Dock, I agree, but we will see how the Cards do. I actually don’t mind the rebuild because its a good idea but I think I am more biased on Marmol. I really do not like the guy, something about him rubs me the wrong way but I could be wrong.
Greentreant – it might not be quite time to bring in that development manager quite yet. Some of it can be about clubhouse psychology. Marmol does have a long history in the organization, though. But it was very much time for some fresh blood. Bloom wants some of his own people. But the key is not to upset the entire cart. The Cardinals have been very successfully run on a development level since Branch Rickey…and even had some of the same people work down in the system for a half century. It’s all going to be good. Just going to have to do things right. The fans really are blessed. They dont have to do many real tear downs. A person would have to recall the late 80s and early 90s to even really recall when thry weren’t atleast competitive.
Did not think Chaim would be able to move Arenado, but he got the job done.
Wowwwww!
As a Rockies fan, there was a time when that headline would have made inconsolably sad. But I have gotten over it and then some. It was like when Troy Tulowitzki joined the Yankees A big who cares.
I would assume Arizona is taking on a good chunk of his contract with that awful return for the Cardinals?
Geeze, I guess not. They couldn’t get ANYTHING better than an eight-round pick for a 1+ WAR player who hit over 10 HRs last year?
Those are bad numbers. Cards were never going to get anything for him. For them, it was about opening a roster spot for a young guy and saving a few million in the process.
There was a similar 3B who was non tendered this offseason. He’ll probably cost a little less than this and also plays good 3B defense.
His name is Ramon Urias. That’s the kind of player Arenado is. Arenado just has the name from the player he used to be.
I thought there was a chance the Angels might bail the Cards out and take on more cash in a deal for him but this feels about what he’s truly worth.
Not about the pick #. About the upside.
Cards didn’t “buy” an even second tier prospect, so AZ perhaps paying a good portion of the 2yrs/37mil remaining.
AZ been looking to trim payroll, so wonder if they are about to dump some non-Marte player salary in a separate trade.
Guess not. Arenado is pretty washed up, but 2yrs/11mil & a lottery ticket for AZ shows how little market thought of him (bench player compensation).
He was not good last year. He was injured, so perhaps he will rebound some. If he does, it’s a decent deal for the Dbacks. If not, they don’t lose much.
The Cards save some money and get a lottery ticket. It’s value because Arenado’s performance in 2026 is basically irrelevant to them – they aren’t trying to win in 2026 and need playing time for younger players, not the chance of 2.0+ fWAR from an ageing veteran.
I kinda feel like if Arizona was looking for a glove first third baseman the reds should’ve checked in.
Finally!
Good Luck, Nado… Sorry you fell off a cliff after 2022. But Father Time always gets his pound of flesh…..he might’ve taken too much with you…shame….but your 2 1/2 seasons (2020-2022) were more than enough to make up for that trade and contract. .
Best defender of his Generation…..hands down. Future HOF, more than likely enters as a Rockie……I hope he’s 1st ballot.
Same. I hope he quits tinkering with his swing and just realizes he’s a pull hitter. That’s how he made all that money in the first place.
After looking at that contract and agreement its a steal for us!
Totally agree, D’Backs are not looking at Arenado for his bat, they want his glove at third now that is money well spent.
Hope he does great in Arizona. 2/11 is value.
But time for the Cards to move on, so win-win (plus a 3rd win if you count Arenado)
Impressive how badly STL wanted to get rid of Arenado. A very good deal for the Snakes.
Is it me or does it seem like the return to the cards is a bit light? Not expecting the moon to STL but at least slightly more
They’re lucky they didn’t just get radio show tickets to a Morgan Wallen concert. Successful trade on both sides.
Only if you’re putting weight on the name Nolan Arenado. He’s an above average defensive 3B who can hit lefties a bit but a sub .700 OPS against RHP’s doesn’t really play.
For $11MM—sure. But he’s closer to Ramon Urias than Nolan Arenado.
It’s $11 million in salary relief. Which is all the Cards were interested in. They didn’t expect any talent in return.
I don’t know. They saved $11 million and got a guy who might start and throws 97. Better than we expected here in St. Louis.
Wow, this could be what it’s really about. Ronaldo has a home in Arizona and will be just a couple hours drive from his home town.
Could be that this is where Nolan wanted to go and Cardinals did him a solid and basically just took whatever the Snakes offered, Which was almost nothing.
Never do business with a Snake.
Just ask Adam and Eve 😉
Could be the best offer they received, makes you think what were the other offers coming in, or if there were any other offers.
Not light at all for the situation they were in. They saved $11 mil and got a high K, low hit pitching project in return. Obviously not a haul, but at this point in the game, to save $11 mil and have any shred of potential in the return is a good deal for the Cards.
Best news in a long time for Angels fans!
That’s hilarious. 😀
When I saw the headline that the Cardinals traded Arenado my heart sank, expecting to see to the Angels with no money changing hands. Somehow Arte stayed out of this. Now we just need to make sure Arte stays away from Tucker and Bellinger.
That’s pretty funny, when I saw the post I also read it as the Angels picking up Arenado. I’ve assumed he was going to them all off-season.
But, how lucky will you feel when he gets flipped to the Angels at the deadline, possibly giving AZ a better prospect that they flipped to STL? Arenado would certainly (maybe) sign off of that.
I actually laughed and cheered when I read the news of Arenado going to Arizona.
Need Boston to trade Early and Campbell to Milwaukee for Peralta
Dopt…. glad you are not the GM…. Peralta for 1 year…. Not Giving up either of those players. Now, Abreu staight up for Peralta… sign me up
Time for JJ in StL
…at 2B.
Gormans last chance at 3B then Fermin gets his shot (with Saggese in the OF…)
JJ will be getting every day ABs somewhere. Going to be 2nd or 3rd. They’ll get Gorman as many ABs as they can, but JJ will be the priority.
Agreed – which makes me think they will put him where they want him to stay, and gorman/fermin/saggese can cover the other spot
I want to see Winn-Wetherholt up the middle for years…
Idk how to feel about this. On one hand he’s still a great defender but on the other he’s a huge drop off from Suarez’s power. If anything he’ll be a Longoria 2.0 when he was with AZ and provide just enough at the plate.
Now who at 1B? Reunion with Goldy please?
Blaze in LF, Alek CF, Carroll RF. Defensively stout. Hope they can score enough runs though. 😬
If Arenado can even pull off another season like 2024, this can end up being a great deal for the D-Backs.
Boston is running out of 3B options.
The Red Sox have a Third baseman…. Marcelo Mayer…. this infatuation to sign aging Free Agents of over 30 years old’s to plug a “hole” that they already have covered with a home grown player is nauseating from clueless fans.
Yeah, because prospects are always sure things, right? The infatuation with prospect hugging is equally nauseating from fans that only follow their own teams.
For a team that is supposed to compete in the already crowded AL East, they’re going to be in a pretty dicey situation if they put all the pressure on the kid and he doesn’t perform, or if he gets injured (again) and they don’t have a backup plan. The position is thin and their plan now is not guaranteed to work.
So if he doesn’t work out, THEN make a trade.
And hope it isn’t too late by THEN or be forced to trade with teams that know you’re desperate. Why not just go after a proven commodity now?
The point is, @Cooper is talking as if Mayer is a sure thing and any other POV is the perspective of a “clueless fan.” No prospect is a sure thing, even when as drafted as high as Mayer. If you watch baseball long enough, you know this.
The Point is at some point you have to trust your player Development system. and play the guys you have invested in to be the future of your team. Not signing an over 30 Free Agent or trading for some once star player who has seen his better days.
Okay, but you’re acting like Mayer is going to be a sure thing when we don’t know that. We know what Bregman can do. We know what Arenado can do, and they didn’t have to give up anything to get him, and would only be on the hook for two years if he is too over the hill (then, just plug and play Mayer).
However, we don’t know what Mayer is going to do yet. All we have is a small sample size where he showed some pop, but looked mostly overwhelmed at the plate last season. Mayer may work out and end up being the better option, but your self-assured attitude where you pretend it isn’t a risk is the hallmark of a clueless homer fan that buys into prospect hype too much.
Again, at some point you have to give the guys with unproven potential a legit chance to shine. Also, with Bregman and Arenado you state that we know what they can do… that doesn’t mean they can still do it.
Personally, I think Arenado is toast. I also think Bregman can have a couple more decent to above average seasons but, not at his price tag and I will take my chances that Mayer will develop into a solid player. He was excellent defensively, offensively he needs to improve versus LHP as he was overmatched…. but so is Abreu..
Arenado may be toast, but it is a two year deal where you don’t have to give up any substantial prospects. Low risk- high reward where if it doesn’t work out, you just put in Mayer who has time to season in AAA. I think it is hard to argue that Bregman is close to being average or below average any time soon considering how consistent he has been, so that is clearly just a guess on your part.
What irked me is your original statement said we have our third basemen so self assuredly as if it is a sure thing (when as you admit he still has holes in his game) and that I’m just a clueless fan for suggesting anything else. There is risk to either scenario of going with Mayer or the vets, but depth at a position is always a good thing in baseball, which is why I’d not just assume Mayer is ready.
As a cardinal fan, this has been a long awaited. I believe he will be better elsewhere. He did not want to be in St. Louis anymore. This is a very late return for us eating 26 million not too happy about the contract.
Wow! Things change, players age. The Cards are in effect paying 25M for a current 8th round draft pick. Yikes. Makes me think of the Mets getting a 17 year old middlin’ pitcher for McNeil.
They clear a spot in the lineup and saved $11 million. Jack Martinez is a lottery ticket.
Cards got a refund for well-worn goods. Most stores don’t carry that kind of policy anymore.
Should’ve made StL eat every penny of that contract, stupid Arizona
That’s fine, but the other $11 million would have bought one of your top prospects.
Then they would havd send some real potential talent back
Don’t trade for Arenado at all, he’s not an upper echelon player any longer. Make StL eat the contract entirely.
And that’s why you’re not a GM. You’d get nothing accomplished.
My guess is Nolan has a good year and this trade is 90% AZ to 10% bail/rebuild for St.L. Torrey L will light a fire under Arenado
This is another thing that was not on my 2026 bingo card!
Dam . An actual bargain. $11 mil two years for either a starter or bench player. Did mlb dehumidify the baseballs for diamondbacks stadium . The ball used to carry there
The DBacks pay $5M this year and $6M in 2027 for Arenado’s services. The Cardinals eat $26M of the remaining $37M on Nolan’s contract. Not sure if this $37M is with or without the monies the Rockies are paying to STL.
The Cardinals accomplished a major off season goal. Move on from Arenado. The DBacks find a replacement 3B. Lawlar had an iron glove at 3B. He may see more time in AZ’s OF.
The total is $42 million. The other $5 million is from Colorado.
Nice pick up for DBacks
They got him for Pennie’s on the dollar for one down season. He’s only 34, got at least 3-4 good years of ball left in him.
Three down seasons, with the last two being pretty awful. He’s done. That said, it’s a win/win, since the price was right.
That’s a crazy pay down by StL. AZ is making out pretty well on this being only on the hook for $11M total That’s totally worth it for a declining Arenado.
Meanwhile, Breslow is sitting in his cubicle playing Minesweeper. (not that I was totally geeked about getting Arenado, but $11M total?!?!)
Again… at some time you have to give the Young guys coming up a chance instead of putting a past his prime player in place of the young guy… Arenado is toast.
Mayer will get his chance at either 3B or 2B. No issues there. However giving Hamilton, Eaton, Sogard and even Romy “a chance” doesn’t seem to be in the philosophy of a team built for the post season. They’re role players and every team has them.
And as many have probably mentioned here, Arenado is worth $11m/2 for his defense alone. Again, I wasn’t pushing for him to end up in Boston, but for what StL paid down, it was worth some consideration.
So is the initial trade to St. Louis still “one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history?”
18.2 WAR for Arenado in St. Louis. 2.2 total WAR in Colorado for all the players the Rockies got in return. Yep, that’s still pretty lopsided.
You’d have to factor in the money that STL paid. If you traded a non prospect for Bogaerts’ full contract you’d end up with more WAR from Bogaerts but an awful trade.
But it ended up being an OK deal for STL. They had to eat this dead money but they did get a 7.5 WAR season and a couple playoff trips.
The pertinent question is could they have recreated that 16 WAR in FA for less money than they paid Nolan (including the money they are now sending to Arizona but excluding any money the Rockies covered).
Unlikely that they would’ve gotten a 7.5 WAR season in a single year for their $’s invested. Those guys get FA deals with $200MM+ on them.
Think it was a fine deal. Not lopsided. Colorado just spent the saved money on Bryant in some idiotic attempt to compete when they should’ve been blowing the team up.
Would’ve looked good if Arenado didn’t nix the Astros deal last year and they got out of most of the money owed then.
All this shows is how far Arenado believes we were away from ever contending. This will make the 70s Cardinals look like a dynasty. Gorman, who is a worse fielder and hitter than Arenado, get another chance, which I think he’ll squander. Get ready for another 3 for 60
Not really an indictment on anything. Arenado already looked foolish for not going to Houston last year when he had the chance. I’d think he was happy to be wanted anywhere else at this point.
JJ will benefit the most. Gorman will platoon. It’s worth it to free up an every day job for JJ.
I’ll be interested to see what Gambo has to say at 2pm today. Wonder if this means a shift to 1B for Marte with Blaze picking up 2B. Lawler going to start the year in LF it would seem.
I like this for one reason and one reason only: it keeps Breslow from getting desperate and trading for him after losing Breslow
Thanks to Nolan for his time in St. Louis. My kids favorite player. Good luck in the desert, have a great bounce back season and shut the critics up…
YIKES, paid all that money just to unload Nolan and get a meh “prospect” in return. Things have gotten really ugly in STL.
The Cards are the only game in town, I feel bad for STL sports fans.
Stl fans have enjoyed a LOT of quality baseball over the years, and are smart enough to live through a reasonable rebuild, especially if done right.
So far, the Bloom administration seems to be doing it right, cashing in veterans for short and long term returns, and hiring new blood in the front office.
Cards, Blues, and City SC. Battlehawks are still a big draw as well. They did what was expected for this trade, which was to free up a spot for a prospect and save a little money in return. It was well-played by the Cards. I for one am super excited to see JJ Weatherholt play for the Cards every day now that this roster spot is open, so no need to feel bad. Loving the chance to get these young guys in every day!
Cards could’ve had $45MM off the books last year if Arenado had some self awareness and thought the Astros were good enough for a declining 3B like himself.
Hey! A good deal for both sides! Arenado is now close to home and the Cards get some relief. Remember when the Cardinals were the model franchise? They did things according to “The Cardinal Way”? Contended every season. Whatever happened there?
They hadn’t developed players recently. A team that wasn’t one of the highest spending clubs in the league keeping up that kind of run for so long was impressive.
They still haven’t been an absolute disaster. A couple games under .500 2/3 years is as bad as it’s gotten. I think they’re in a much better spot with Bloom. Mo was certainly not a competent GM any longer.
John Mozeliak and his Clown Possy happened
When he was good, he was out of this world.
Wish it could have gone differently with Nado and Goldy trying to do something great in STL, but alas, we wasted that opportunity.
Thanks for being an epic player wearing Cardinal red and best of luck with chasing a much-deserved ring, sir.
I’ll stand and applaud when we see you here in June.
Yeah that is the shame of the whole thing. In ’22 had Arenado and Goldie both at the top of MVP conversations Pujols getting center cut pitches the whole second half but didn’t get the pitching to handle the Phillies in the wild card round. Montgomery and Quintana were handy in the regular season, but not enough. If they had traded Jordan Walker(peak value) then for a pitcher instead of Bader or both for something resembling an ace. Hindsight being what it is and all…
Evan Longoria 2.0
Heck of a good deal for the D’Backs. Have away minimal really. Good for the Cards to finally get rid of his money I guess.
Either way the Arenado saga is over. Much luck to him in Arizona.
Now this is how you do it.
Arenado’s career has been teams paying for him to play somewhere else.
Sounds like there’s hope to trade Castellanos
Maybe if they sign an outfielder, as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run,
That will never happen and thank God for that. Pay Arizona all this money just to take Arnado off our hands and then bring in a older and far worse player?
Can someone inform Bloom there is other positions on a roster to fill other than Pitchers!
The Cards weren’t going to get anything substantial in this deal. Salary dumps don’t come with preferences when begging someone to take a player off your hands.
The Cards need everything.
If there’s ever an excess of quality pitching, the easiest thing to do is find a trade partner for that.
The Cards have this full rebuild season (and probably beyond to ’27) to get things sorted.
I’m surprised the Snakes didn’t sweeten the return to the Cardinals and ask for Romero as well. They’re in desperate need for more pitching help.
@Die, Good point. Don’t know what the Ariz bullpen looks like, but Jojo is a strong 7th-inning guy and a pretty darn legit 8th-inning guy, too, for $4m in his last year of team control.
Our long national nightmare is finally over.
Free at last, my Baby Blue.
Good riddance! Guy looks cooked. A low-K hitter who still produces negative batting run value. That’s the nightmare aging curve teams fear most.
Arizona is a great place to retire.
@Turd_Ferguson
Far too many people retiring there now. Some other great places to retire are:
Gregory, South Dakota
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Tryon, North Carolina
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Fargo, North Dakota
Santa Rosa NM if you are addicted to methamphetamine.
Bendaho, this made me laugh out loud.
Arenado was worth 2.5 bWAR in 2024. If he can get back to that level for a couple more years, then Arizona will be more than happy. By the way, two years and five bWAR would put Arenado over sixty bWAR for his career. Which would start the HOF talk.
Arenado is a Hall of Famer already. The only question is first ballot.
I dunno. It’s kinda iffy on the HOF. FanGraphs isn’t really sold on him, for instance. If he ends his career with a few decent years, then he probably gets in. If he hangs around through several bad years, well, it’s questionable.
His WAR number would be on the low side to get in.
If you’re looking at traditional numbers he’s similar to Scott Rolen. Lower OBP but has more home runs, similar .BA and slug. He was a 10x gold glover and 8x all star which comps favorable to 7x and 8x for Rolen.
I think he’ll be an interesting case.
Yeah, the WAR numbers are getting more important for sportswriters as the dinosaurs fall off the voter rolls. All those gold gloves will definitely count, and a couple more decent years with the bat will make the traditional stats look pretty good. I think he gets in eventually but it’s not a lock right now. The Rolen comp is a good one, though his 70 bWAR was better than what Arenado will probably end up with.
WAR is going to have Rolen top him for sure. 10 gold gloves and 8 All star appearances as well as a strong 6 season peak will be arguments in his favor. (Exclude 2020 bc of obvious reasons)
Playing in Colorado has certainly never been beneficial to anyone’s case though. It’ll take awhile if he does get in. His chances are much stronger than a guy like Longo who has roughly the same WAR number.
I doubt he has it in him but if he managed to squeak out another 4WAR season I think that’d get him over the line.
Small sample, but when he came back and played for a few weeks, post-shoulder rehab last year, he was hitting oppo with a lot of zip.
I think there’s a real chance he’s got some good hitting left in the tank. And the guy works his tail off.
Ton of upside to this deal for the right team.
Well said.
Prediction of 11 years $400M looking a tad optimistic right now, but it’s interesting his marked didn’t develop as he would have liked it to, at least for now.
As a former professional scouting. Im intrigued by a guy who can jump from D3 to ASU and then turn that into a draft pick. Shows he’s been counted out before. I find it a little more interesting than the AZ end where they’re getting a known quantity. Looks a little like short reliever stuff – which you dont have to draft high or overpay for in the draft.
Love the Ks. Love the difficulty to hit the kid. Obviously he has serious control problems, but you aren’t going to get a flawless prospect in a deal like this. He’s definitely intriguing compared to the nothing they could have gotten.
I’ll amend “serious control problems” to “he walks more than you would like to see. Brandon Clarke, our #7 prospect, has serious control problems. This kid has definitely shown more control than Brandon.
The Cardinals have historically trusted their baseball people to be able to coach players. Id venture they just see the high upside of the raw stuff. Sometimes that beats the low ceiling high floor type.
Have to add wed only be assuming they could have had other deal.
Ability to improve is a skill. Worth a shot!
A weak transaction but still better than the Bregman deal.
Obviously Arenado had to agree to this, so does that mean his NTC is voided now – meaning the Snakes themselves could trade him at some point without his permission?.
His contract is still his contract. Unless he’s specifically choosing to write in a void of his NTC, then it still exists in his contract.
If I am not mistaken, he simply approved this particular transaction. He still retains his no trade rights.
This is just another D’Back deal they are not gambling much in contract but hoping to get a onetime lightning strike from Arenado play maybe 125 games hit around 250 a few HRs, and RBI’s, but the want is a solid glove at 3rd. Having Alexander and Lawler line up to be able to play at 3rd base, 2nd base, shortstop, and some outfield. If they can get that from Arenado I think for what the D’Backs having to pay 5 mil I say why not, it’s a good deal.
At two years and $11 million, Arizona is getting a good deal. I wonder if this puts a Marte trade back on the table.
Why should it?
This would be quite the acquisition if the year were 2019. Arenado is just a big name at this point.
That’s the whole point of the Cards eating $26 million and the DBacks only giving up a single low level prospect.
Missing the point entirely
Saw Arenado play in SF a couple years ago and I was aghast how slow his bat had gotten.
Should be a really strong defensive infield for Arizona.
Get some ground ball pitchers and feed those guys.
Congrats to Nolan for finally agreeing to get off that sinking ship in cesspool east Missouri!! I can respect him as a player and person again now.
$11M Cards eat the rest….AZ GM is a shoe in for GM of the year!
“shoo in”
I just traded for him a few days ago in Baseball Mogul
Cardinals aren’t cheap, nope infact they’re paying over 50 million dollars for our former players to play on other mlb teams. Now that’s smart money ball baby.
Artie Moreno is so pissed about this he’s going to demand his FO make five more iron league signings just to make up for it. The heir apparent to the Rendón era remains unknown.
If you cannot get a solid play in Free Agency, its time to get after a named brand player in declining years.
At $11 mil, you’d be wrong not to.
Stl pitchers will miss having even the aged version of Arenado at third over Gorman. I hope Nado finds a groove in the desert and makes this trade look like a steal. For the Cards though it saves some cash and opens the roster spot and prevents having to release a probable HOF player outright if the decline continued this season. Really is a win win and hope it works out for both teams. Nolan could have hit .280 with 30 dingers and the birds would still not benefit other than additional salary relief once he was traded later.
Arenado is pretty washed now, but that’s a good move for Arizona. Costs them very little and Arizona is a good place to hit.
“Arizona is a Southern California native with a home in Arizona.”
Arizona must have moved. Oh well, it won’t be the last time the two names get mixed up.
Basic plate tectonics
Sounds like Arrenados defense is still solid and, historically, he has hit LHP well. Problem is his potential platoon partners at 3B, Alexander and Lawler, both hit RH, as well. If he platoons at 1B with Smith, you lose much of Arrenados defensive value. Is he the everyday (120+ games) 3B?
He won’t play first at all
Of course he’s still an everyday player at 3B, since his bat should rebound now that he’s healthy again.
$30 million to improve the return and they got an eighth round middle reliever with a 5+ ERA?
The pitcher has no professional experience at all so I’m not sure that his college ERA means anything.
We haven’t seen him on a pro mound but he’s obviously a complete lotto ticket. This is what Arenado was worth so that’s what they had to eat. It was that or he sucks up a roster spot that was going to a young player. It was time to go & it’s unfortunate he blew up the deal to Houston. That would’ve gotten the Cards out in a good spot.
At $11 mil? That’s a great deal for ARI.
AZ will flip him to the Angels. You read it here first
Kind of thought Arenado smelled like an Angels move. But it’s a solid vet deal for AZ. Just have to think of him a little like the Cubs version of Gary Gaetti.
Wow… Despite the rebuild, I think I would just rather have Arenado around. If nothing else, he is just a recognizable name for the fans to come out and see.
But I could see if Arenado wanted out at this point and this was both a cost-savings measure and a courtesy to the player.
We need the spot in the order and on the diamond. It’s a rebuild — the sooner we give opportunities to young players, the sooner the Cards can play winning baseball again.
@ol Uncle Have you taken Chip and Ernie to a game?
Both promising young pitchers! Good kids!
Promising you png kids they’re in their 60’either or they’re dead. Tina Cole is still alive.
Q . Why were you always in a bad mood.??
CKinSTL – that’s a reasonable take. But sometimes its also time to clear the deck and not allow a veteran to become morose in the clubhouse potentially. Out of respect it’s sometimes good to deal a guy to a contender for another chance at a ring
Not glad to see him back in the NL West, but glad he is a much worse player than the last time he was in the NL West.
Inexpensive for the snakes, but Arenado appeared to be decling rapidly and had little value. Essentially a 1 year deal because 2027 is cooked. Maybe a change of scenery from the death march in STL will put a little pep in his step.
Very few short years ago, Arenado was well on track for a modern hall of fame career. 3b still has the least amount of HOF inductees than any other position. Is this still possible? Why? Why not? I think if he can just keep stacking at any rate through the contract after this one, he makes it.
“Beyond that, Arizona is a Southern California native with a home in Arizona.”
FYI on typo. I think author meant “Arenado”, not “Arizona.”
It’s still not a salary dump. The Cardinals could’ve paid Arenado’s entire salary for the next two years (save for the $5M from the Rockies) without any problems, and they’re still on the hook for most of it.
It’s more about clearing up their position player logjam that they began with the Contreras trade. Now that have 3B open for possibly Weatherholt (if not at 2B), Gorman, Saggese, or maybe even Donovan if he’s not traded himself.
Hazen with his signature third base move that defines his style.
hope perdomo gets to play in a major market at some point guy is incredible on both sides of the ball and the clubhouse
Arenado is a bench player at best. He is now playing below replacement level. His power is largely sapped, he has no speed, adequate glove still but not valuable enough bat to justify playing him with regularity. I won’t be surprised if AZ releases him before the end of the season.
…someone else who forgot Arenado was playing hurt for an entire month last year. He’s still easily a 2+ WAR player now that he’s healthy again.
Besides, even with his poor overall offense numbers last year, he was still worth 1.3 bWAR and 0.9 fWAR thanks to his defense, not exactly below replacement level like you claimed.
Future hall of famer with no MVP title, very unfortunate.
Surprised that the Angels didn’t do this or similar but I’m glad they didnt.
Insert: “3yrs ago a salary dump would’ve been hard to imagine”, to any current long deal of your choice.
Wow, so dude is getting paychecks from 3 teams at once? I wonder if that’s a record, I don’t think even Edwin Jackson or Rich Hill can claim that!
Lots of fans on the Cardinals’ subreddit continue the lovefest for new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, saying he’s getting things done that John Mozeliak couldn’t.
Well, first, all three players had one more year left on contracts a year ago.
Second, especially with Arenado, when it became clear a full rebuild was ahead, he lowered his standards on what other teams he would accept trades to.
Third and most relevant, Mo wasn’t bribing other teams to the degree Bloom is.
Mo is also the reason everything was so inflexible. NTC to Gray & he accepted Arenado’s NTC in the deal.
Fair though. If Bloom cashes in on Donovan then I’ll say he’s done a very nice job accomplishing what he needs to.
Glad Detroit didn’t go there.
Not me.
Something like Vierling, Meadows, Horn for Arrenado, Doyle and Clarke.
Let the Cardinals’ owner be aware of the financial figures involved. Illich would be the one not to want to but they need.a.system of constant recharge, not.this sprint and expire system they pursue.
Let them keep their money.
(The object being to get pitching prospects Doyle and Clarke)
Oh
..and they must include Tink Hence.
Tink.Hence.must.be included…..because that’s a lot of money.
May as well just add Donovan, JoJo, Busch Stadium, and the Birds on the Bat logo to the trade too since that $26 mil is so gosh darn valuable
Good idea! You’re hired!
My heart bleeds. The greatest defensive third baseman l have ever seen. He was one of the grittiest players I have ever luckiest to have seen. Thanks for the memories. Hope you get a chance to show your stuff in the waining years. Watching you was a joy.
Horrible move Arizona. Arenado is a shell of his former self. Pretty close to a replacement player
Say what you will he’s still a better 3rd baseman than Anthony Rendon.
I which him nothing but the best. He played hurt most of the year. I hope he has a bounce back year. He’s still an above average fielder. The Snakes have to pay $ 11 million over two years. It’s worth a chance. It was a pleasure watching him in the Lou…
Chase Field is basically Coors south. Arenado probably makes the all star team.
I don’t think they will pay what he is worth. It would take one or two of your Best pitching prospects. Cards hold the cards. They don’t have to move him. He doesn’t make that much money
Casey Schmitt fills the 3B position….
Natural position, young and on the upswing in his development.
Arizona is a South California native with a home in Arizona. Wow
Arenado has been battling injuries for the past couple of years. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if had a resurgence in Arizona. He loves to play and will be driven to prove he’s still got something left. Good luck Nolan!!
$26M passed on to the fans.
Not the right way to operate.
Doyle and Clarke to the Tigers saves you A LOT of money and gets something decent back.
BUT WHY BOTHER?
You can just off the cost of.bad business practices on to the stupid fan, who you have no respect for….
Hey…it’s a monopoly anyways…so who cares?????
Do not like Emmas’ take. Opportunity MISSED.
On both sides.
so will the fans will pay more for concessions parking admission or TV this year? haven’t read about any increases yet in STL.
So your argument is that, in a year in which the Cardinals are DESPERATE to rebuild their pitching-starved farm system (which is a goal they have publicly stated a bunch of times), they should have traded 2 of their 3 best pitching prospects just to save money in a year in which the money won’t matter because they aren’t going to be competitive?
What in the world is this take?
So, all of the sudden it’s not a business? Prices have already risen and will do so again in the near future because of this type of business activity.
I mention it as an alternative. Yes. I want the Tigers to “buy” those very same prospects.
I am proposing, “temp the owner with ~$30M more profit”.
And it’s not.like the Tigers can’t send something worthwhile back.
The Tigers could turn around and trade those guys w/$ to get even more prospects like trading him to AZ or Autryville.
If you can’t see why making that move would be the absolute dumbest thing the Cardinals could do with their offseason, I’m not sure what to tell you. There is a less than 0% chance any team in the majors would do this.
Not if the owner wants $30M.
A+ Arizona. A lot of star power for the $. Glove still plays. Not a black hole at plate. Should get their $ worth.
good for AZ but not A+.
He needs a Tom Brady style diet plan and LeBron James style weight training, he’s 35 playing like a 40 year old
The Cardinals are on a path to pay more for players who now play for other teams than the roster they will field.
In the end this trade is going to be a fart in the wind
Great news for the Dbacks!
2/$11M seems like a great deal.
I bet he has big year playing for them
Arizona is a Southern California native with a home in Arizona???????????????????????
Thank you Arizona! Arenado would have been a bad pivot from Bregman
Great first line of the story Steve Adams!
Bloom has done his best in a tear down and rebuild. See what they have in the kids and try to get going the other way. From hearing from STL media it sounds like the only mistake Bloom has made is he put a Ketel Marte trade price on Donovan. Donovan is a good player but you are not getting top prospect for him.
Arenado’s decline is really confusing—ages 32 to 34 aren’t considered old for most players. If this trend continues, he may even be at risk of being released by June.
The issue isn’t the money. It’s the money AND not getting anything back in return. A late round draft pick who will never see the majors?
That tells me Cardinals ownership simply wants to strip things down to the studs and hope for the best.
This is going to be the first 100 loss Cardinals team in over a hundred years.
I think you are right about the team may lose over 100 games this coming season. I have never been so less enthusiastic about a new season of baseball. I think we will see Fredbird as the face of the franchise.
Arenado lives and has a workout facility a few miles from where he grew up in Orange County. He has family in Arizona. He does not own a home in Arizona nor does he live there.
Congratulations to the Diamondbacks on their addition of Nolan Arenado. Nolan is a class act who will make the team better..
There shouldn’t be a comma before “too.”