St. Louis Cardinals are encountering a significant obstacle in their trade negotiations for Nolan Arenado

MLB Trade Rumors: St. Louis Cardinals are encountering a significant obstacle in their trade negotiations for Nolan Arenado.

Will Nolan Arenado, the third baseman, ever be traded by the St. Louis Cardinals? Now is a good time to pose that question.

The 33-year-old, who has three seasons remaining on his nine-year, $275 million contract that he signed while still playing for the Colorado Rockies, has been clear throughout the summer that the Cardinals want to let him go. However, Arenado and the Cardinals are still together as spring training draws near. 

Why? Basic accounting (as well as a little old-fashioned stubbornness). 

The Cardinals simply aren't willing to make any concessions over the money owed to their 10-time Gold Glove third baseman, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Major suitors for Arenado, such as the Boston Red Sox, appear to be turned off by this mindset.

"The Cardinals have not budgeted enough on the money they're willing to send with the remaining three years and $64M on Arenado's contract, which is another reason the Red Sox haven't acted yet, in addition to the repercussions of such a move — Rafael Devers moving to a nearly full-time designated hitter role." 

Money isn't the only issue that is causing friction in these trade negotiations, of course. With a.272/.325/.394 triple slash, 16 home runs, and a.719 OPS in 635 plate appearances, Arenado did have a poorer 2024 season than his typical ones. However, the experienced third baseman recorded a slightly above-average OPS+ of 101 (100 is league average) even in a "down" year.

However, it is important to remember that Arenado is still a capable defender, which is valuable in and of itself. However, the body of work as a whole points to a player who is steadily losing ground, which hurts St. Louis in trade negotiations. Arenado's no-trade clause, which he has already used to reject a previous deal to the Houston Astros, doesn't work either. 

To return to the Cardinals, Arenado is prepared to forego his no-trade in order to travel to a place of his choosing.

If St. Louis is genuinely motivated to sell its veteran third baseman, it will eventually have to give up money. If not, there's a good chance that these two parties will remain married in 2025. And neither party may be happy with that arrangement.