Cardinals Have Nothing to Regret About Nolan Arenado Trade

Before the 2026 Major League Baseball season, the St. Louis Cardinals certainly made a few changes, to say the least.

The Cardinals already had a young roster and went even younger by trading Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox, Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners and Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks. When it comes to the deals, the Donovan one clearly favors St. Louis so far. The other three are more up in the air, but the fact that the Cardinals ripped off the Band-Aid, was the correct call. Take a look at Arenado, for example. He has been awesome over in Arizona, but that doesn't mean that St. Louis was wrong to move him.

Arenado has bounced back and is slashing .250/.325/.464 with a .789 OPS, 28 homers, 79 RBIs, 24 doubles and 75 runs scored in 147 games played. His 3.0 wins above replacement are his highest total since recording 7.9 wins above replacement in 2022. In exchange for Arenado, the Cardinals got right-hander Jack Martinez. The Cardinals also kicked in $31 million of the final $42 million owed to the eight-time All-Star. On the bright side, the Cardinals saved some cash. Plus, Martinez showed some promise in the Cardinals' system.

The Cardinals Made The Right Move

Sep 14, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) singles in the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

On paper, Arenado's 28 homers and 79 RBIs would look really good in the Cardinals' lineup. He would be tied with Jordan Walker for the team lead in homers and third base is a major question mark for St. Louis. But this still was the right call for the plan of development. Hindsight is 20-20. Just by looking at Arenado's stats, it's easy to wonder. But would Arenado have done the same thing at Busch Stadium? Likely not. Chase Field in Arizona is actually one of the most home run-friendly parks in baseball. It's tied for second in park factor with Fenway Park and Target Field. Busch Stadium, on the other hand, is 25th in the league.

Before the 2026 season, Arenado combined to his 28 homers over the last two season with St. Louis. In 2023, he hit 26 long balls. What we've seen from Arenado this season has been awesome, but there's no guarantee he would've had the same success if he stayed.

Then, if he had stayed, the Cardinals wouldn't have gotten a look at Blaze Jordan at the hot corner. Also, Nolan Gorman likely would've had a more inconsistent role at the beginning of the season. If that had happened, then there would've still been a real argument that inconsistent playing time is what caused his offensive troubles. The Cardinals arguably got a long enough look at him this season to confirm that he shouldn't be in the plans as a main guy moving forward. You wouldn't necessarily have seen that if Arenado was still getting all the reps at third base.

Thomas Saggese has gotten time at third base recently, among other infield positions. Arguably, it's very important to get him going. He realistically could be someone who plays a big role next year.

Sometimes, it's easy to look back on deals and wonder. If Arenado were on the Cardinals would they be a playoff team right now? Arguably not because you cannot guarantee that his production from Arizona would've carried over. In his last two seasons with the Cardinals, there were struggles and he started to look mortal. He looks significantly better now. Maybe the change of scenery and hitter-friendly ballpark did that.

The goal of the 2026 season has been development. The Cardinals have done just that. In the long run, it was the right move.

Add us as a preferred source on Google