Cardinals 'Expected' To Use $260 Million All-Star As Trade Bait

Nolan Arenado could be on the move this offseason...

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates with first baseman Alec Burleson (41) after the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are seemingly headed to a rebuild this winter. They have spent years as a mediocre team in the league, and they'll look to turn the franchise around under the leadership of the new president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom.

Bloom will have a lot of big decisions to make, but the most important decisions will likely be the Cardinals' potential trades.

Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants recently suggested the Cardinals were expected to shop veteran infielder Nolan Arenado this offseason. Jacobs also suggested that if the Cardinals couldn't find a trade suitor, they might opt to cut him.

Cardinals expected to shop Nolan Arenado in offseason

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) hits a three run double against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"The St. Louis Cardinals are finally ready to admit they need to rebuild under the new leadership of Chaim Bloom, and it sounds like he's fully prepared to move on from multiple key contributors this offseason to accelerate that timeline," Jacobs wrote. "While Bloom will likely explore moving many players in an attempt to rebuild this organization into a contender, two names that we can confirm he is going to shop are Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado. Arenado has openly acknowledged the potential of a deal to the media this past week, but the news of Gray is both expected and fluid due to his prior desire to remain in St. Louis.

"With the way Arenado is talking about his time with the Cardinals likely coming to an end, it's hard to imagine a scenario where he's back with St. Louis next season. Even if the Cardinals cannot find a trade partner, they could even be incentivized to release him in order to clear the way for young players in the organization."

The Cardinals should trade Arenado to any team they can, but at this point, it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. The veteran is expensive and has struggled for St. Louis all season.

But the Cardinals should still attempt to trade him this winter. With that seemingly unlikely, cutting Arenado might be the most likely outcome during the offseason. Still, only time will tell.

This is going to be one of the bigger decisions of the offseason because it's an expensive one. Arenado has millions of dollars attached to his contract, and the Cardinals typically don't eat a sunk cost like cutting Arenado would force them to do. Still, that seems like the most likely outcome.

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