A's, St. Louis Cardinals Nearly Came Together on Nolan Arenado Deal

The A's nearly had third base figured out

Jul 18, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third base Nolan Arenado (28) looks on in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Third base is the A's biggest area of uncertainty on the offensive side of the ball, and the team's font office was reportedly taking a big swing to fill that gap earlier this offseason. As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this morning, the A's had a deal on the table with the St. Louis Cardinals to acquire Nolan Arenado, but he indicated that he "would not necessarily approve a trade to the A’s."

The deal would have provided the Athletics with a 10-time Gold Glove third baseman in Arenado, who is now set to suit up for his third team across his 13-year career. He'll be entering his age-35 season in 2026 and has two years left on his contract.

Arenado spent the first eight seasons of his career in Colorado and was dealt to St. Louis, where he spent five seasons as a Cardinal. The gold glover also racked up six platinum gloves, eight All-Star appearances, and five Silver Sluggers in his time with both teams.

Right before Christmas, the A's landed veteran infielder Jeff McNeil in a trade with the New York Mets. With uncertainty at both second and third base heading into 2026, the team was looking at adding a good bat at either position. With McNeil slotting in at second base now, this means guys like Max Muncy, Darell Hernaiz, and Brett Harris will get to battle it out for third base.

With Arenado's no-trade clause seemingly preventing this trade to the Athletics, he ended up with the Arizona Diamondbacks instead. It's unknown what the timeline of the A's portion of this deal was. Was this a move that would have been in addition to McNeil at second, or instead of the former Met?

Perhaps the A's planned to bring in both veterans to complement their young star duo of Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson in the infield. In which case, the A's could still be on the market for a third baseman. Free agent Eugenio Suarez is one star option the A's could consider if they're still looking for a big upgrade at the hot corner.

Jon Heyman also reported earlier this week that the A's were interested in reuniting with Miguel Andujar. Andujar spent two seasons with the organization, and was quite versatile for the team, playing mainly in the outfield, but even filled in at third base in 2025 after Tyler Soderstrom's move to left. If Andujar remains open to playing third base, he could certainly be an option for the club.

Andujar wasn't the only infielder the A's were linked to this off-season, as earlier on, the team made a big offer to Ha-Seong Kim in free agency, in hopes for him to be the team's primary second baseman. The A's would miss out, as he elected to sign a higher AAV deal with the Atlanta Braves.

However, it looks like the A's dodged a bullet, as Kim will miss 4-5 months this season after slipping on ice in Korea last week.

The A's have some intriguing in-house options for the hot corner in Hernaiz, Harris and Muncy, but all three are somewhat unproven in the big leagues, so they could be after someone with a longer track record.