Cardinals In Murky Spot After Months Of Blockbuster Trade Rumors

What will the team do?

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

UPDATE: The Belleville News-Democrat's Jeff Jones shared later in the afternoon on Monday that Arenado hasn't reported to Spring Training camp yet. This isn't too shocking as it hasn't kicked off officially yet.

"I have to eat this and apologize," Jones said. "I have since been told that Nolan Arenado is definitively not in Florida and is still at home in Southern California. I do not know who I saw walking into the clubhouse this morning, but it's quite apparent to me that I was mistaken.

"I am, to put it mildly, absolutely mortified, and I apologize for being incorrect. No excuse for it. I owe an apology to Tim, Martin, Doug, Jackson, and everyone else involved with TMA. That can't happen on my end. It's flat-out bad."

ORIGINAL STORY: The St. Louis Cardinals have spent the offseason talking about how much they want to trade star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

It's been somewhat surprising how open the team has been about the fact that they have wanted to deal Arenado away. The Cardinals entered the offseason wanting to shed salary and getting rid of Arenado certainly would've done the trick.

While this is the case, he is still a member of the organization despite all of the team's comments. Spring Training is just about to kick off and the eight-time All-Star reportedly has made his way to Jupiter, Florida already for camp, as shared by the Belleville News-Democrat's Jeff Jones on "The Morning After STL" on 101 ESPN St. Louis.

"Per Jeff Jones on "The Morning After STL" on 101 ESPN St. Louis, Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado is here at Roger Dean Stadium," Tim McKernan shared on social media. "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the biggest surprise, I'd consider this is a 13."

The Cardinals have had a week offseason, to say the least, and this is just another variable in it. It doesn't rule out the fact that the Cardinals could end up trading him still, but there's certainly a chance he could end up sticking around with the team at this point.

Anything could happen, but it's still surprising that after months of chatter, nothing has gotten done on the trade market. If the Cardinals do want to be competitive in 2025, it would make sense to keep him around, but it's unclear what the plan is.

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