Cardinals' Chaim Bloom Speaks After 'Sobering' Nolan Arenado Trade

The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off their third major trade of the offseason on Tuesday afternoon.

Just in case you haven't seen it yet, the Cardinals opted to trade eight-time All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks, plus cash considerations,in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

We have completed the following trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks: pic.twitter.com/rxvtxmiyaF
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) January 13, 2026

That's a pretty high price for the 2025 eighth-round draft pick, but this deal was much more about dealing Arenado than the return itself. Plus, with a no-trade clause involved, it's really difficult to actually have leverage in a trade because if a team the player doesn't want to go, has a better offer, it doesn't matter. Arenado fully controlled his fate and this is what St. Louis got back.

The Cardinals exec explained the deal

St. Louis Cardinals executive Chaim Bloom — Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom spoke to the media about the deal, as transcribed by STLSportsPage.com's Rob Rains.

"To us and to Nolan the situation really pointed to a fresh start,” Bloom said. “A fresh start for him and moving forward for us. … When you have a situation like this, where Nolan also is a party at the table, with full control over where he goes, you’re really just looking for the match first and foremost. At the same time my job is to represent the Cardinals and make sure the deal is something we feel is in our interest and we can justify...

"We didn’t make any secret of that fact that we were looking for a match in a trade that was something that fit Nolan as well,” Bloom continued. “This particular scenario picked up a lot of steam rather quickly in recent days...You’re only doing something like this if you are in a position as an organization where you are not where you want to be. As an indicator of where we are, it’s a sobering thought in terms of the ground we need to cover and the distance from where we are to where we want to get. It’s motivating in that regard."

Bloom has been around the block. He has already gotten three big trades done this offseason with Arenado, Willson Contreras, and Sonny Gray. When he was leading the Boston Red Sox, he was the executive who had to trade Mookie Betts away as well. Bloom knows what it takes to rebuild a team after having to make difficult decisions with veteran stars. Now, Boston is reaping the rewards of what Bloom did for that farm system. Soon enough, hopefully that will be St. Louis too.

More MLB: Cardinals Fans Get JJ Wetherholt Update With Nolan Arenado Gone