Cardinals Might Have To Get Creative With Potential Nolan Arenado Trade

The Cardinals may need to take a different approach.

Sep 15, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) fields a ground ball hit by Cincinnati Reds third baseman Santiago Espinal (not pictured) in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals tried to trade Nolan Arenado last offseason, but after he blocked a trade to the Houston Astros, he was forced to remain in St. Louis for 2025. This offseason, Chaim Bloom is attempting to do the same thing.

The problem is, interest in Arenado is low, especially with several free agent third basemen. It’s going to be hard for the Cardinals to trade their All-Star third baseman, even if they eat a chunk of money.

However, John Denton of MLB.com may have a solution to this problem, and it may involve the Cardinals getting a little creative.

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

Cardinals Insider Proposes Solution To Nolan Arenado Problem

Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) throws to first base for an out against the San Francisco Giants during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

“It may be a deal where the Cardinals have to put Brendan Donovan with Arenado to make a package more appealing to a team. Maybe they have to put JoJo Romero in there with Arenado to get the Angels to blink,” Denton said.

It may take a little creativity on the Cardinals’ part to be able to move Arenado at all. There isn’t any traction in his market right now, so that makes it hard for the Cardinals to find any potential takers.

Perhaps they would have to package him with Willson Contreras in a potential trade to the Boston Red Sox, as Boston needs help at third base. But even that would be hard since the Red Sox are trying to re-sign Alex Bregman.

Arenado had one of the worst seasons of his career offensively, hitting .237 with 12 home runs and a disappointing .666 OPS, so the Cardinals are going to have to swallow some cash in order to make a deal happen.

But even then, it all depends on which teams will be interested in him. He has expanded his list of teams he’ll consider a trade to, but his market likely won’t take shape until some of the top free agents sign.

So, unless the Cardinals hold onto him, they may have to put him in a package with another player to be able to move him. It will be interesting to see how Bloom goes about getting out from under some of Arenado’s money.

If they don’t package him with another player, they may be stuck with him for the rest of his contract.

More MLB: Cardinals, Red Sox Blockbuster Rumors Center On Willson Contreras