Cardinals Predicted to Trade 8-Time All-Star During MLB Winter Meetings

It may actually happen this time.

Sep 11, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of the 9/11 ribbon on a St. Louis Cardinals hat in the dugout before the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals enter day two of the Winter Meetings with a lot of work still left to do. Chaim Bloom already started the rebuild by trading Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox.

Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras, JoJo Romero, Lars Nootbaar or Nolan Arenado could be next. The Cardinals have been trying to trade Arenado since last offseason.

One of the biggest questions this winter is again whether or not the Cardinals will trade their star third baseman. However, Mike Axisa of CBS Sports made a prediction about a possible trade and gave his opinion on the situation.

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

Nolan Arenado Trade Likely To Happen

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

“It does seem inevitable, doesn't it? St. Louis had a farewell ceremony for Nolan Arenado in their final home game, signaling their intention. The Cardinals paid down $20 million to trade Sonny Gray to the Red Sox last week. Surely they're willing to eat money to move Arenado, whom they owe $37 million over the next two seasons,” Axisa writes.

Arenado had his worst offensive season to date, hitting just .237/.289/.377 with 12 home runs, 52 RBI and a .666 OPS. He also missed over a month with an injury.

At this point, the Cardinals are going to have to eat some more money to make an Arenado trade happen and get a good return. But if they were willing to do that with Gray, they should be willing to do it with Arenado.

The 34-year-old third baseman wants to play for a contending team, and the Cardinals aren’t going to be a contender for a couple of years. He has two years left on his contract with St. Louis.

Trading Arenado is the organization’s top priority this winter, and if the Cardinals can do that, then they can move forward with their rebuild and bring back some solid young players.

But it’s in their best interest to move Arenado, and it’s also best for Arenado to go and play for a contender rather than sit through two years of a rebuild. 

Still, it will be interesting to see what happens at the Winter Meetings. It might take a while for Arenado to be moved because of the third base market, but the Cardinals should be able to get it done this winter.

More MLB: Cardinals Predicted To Send $87 Million Slugger To Yankees