The St. Louis Cardinals’ rebuilding plan is likely to include the departure of third baseman Nolan Arenado.
John Mozeliak, the club’s president of baseball operations, made that announcement Monday at the winter meetings in Dallas.
Arenado, 33, is under contract for 2025 at $32 million, 2026 at $27 million and 2027 at $15 million.
“(Having Arenado remain a Cardinal) is a possibility, but I’m not sure that puts us where we want to be,” Mozeliak said. “From a financial standpoint of trying to move our payroll, there are certainly other ways to do that, but (dealing Arenado) would be a big help. It’s financial, but it also creates a runway for someone else.”
He added, “These decisions are not something we ever take lightly. (Arenado) is not demanding a trade. He’s not telling me I have to do it, but I think in the best interest of both sides, I’d like to try to find him someplace to land.”
The odds of that mission succeeding are reduced by the amount of money Arenado is owed, as well as the full no-trade clause in his contract. Arenado did waive the clause when he was dealt from the Colorado Rockies to the Cardinals on Feb. 1, 2021, but he received significant financial incentives for doing so.
“(The no-trade provision) is a complicating task, but again we’ve had open dialogue, and we understand where this may end,” Mozeliak said.
Arenado is coming off the first of his 12 major league seasons in which he didn’t make the National League All-Star team, win a Gold Glove or both. He is an eight-time All-Star and a 10-time Gold Glove honoree who has finished in the top eight in NL Most Valuable Player voting six times.
In 2024, Arenado hit .272 with a .325 on-base percentage, a .394 slugging percentage, 16 homers and 71 RBIs in 152 games. The homer and RBI totals were his worst in 10 years, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Arenado owns a career batting line of .285/.342/.515 with 341 homers and 1,132 RBIs in 1,680 games.
The Cardinals are coming off an 83-79 season in which they tied for second place in the NL Central but failed to make the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
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