The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to trade eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado this offseason, but finding a suitor has been challenging.
Arenado’s top priority is to land with a perennial contender. Still, he recently blocked a trade to the Houston Astros, who have qualified for the playoffs in nine of the 10 previous seasons.
Perhaps a three-team blockbuster with the Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies will place Arenado with a team that’ll give him a legitimate chance to add a World Series title to his Hall of Fame-caliber resume.
“Among position players, Alex Bregman is arguably the biggest name still available as a free agent,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote Thursday morning. “That’s largely because he’s reportedly seeking at least a $200 million deal, but it might also partially be a product of both Nolan Arenado and Alec Bohm ranking among the top and most frequent names mentioned on the trade block. Nearly one-third of the league could make a lot of sense as a candidate to trade for Bohm, but the Seattle Mariners might be the most eager of the bunch.”
Arenado’s contract has a no-trade clause, but he told the Cardinals he’d approve a trade to the Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, or his childhood favorite team, the Dodgers.
“Thus far this offseason, the Mariners have done nothing to address their offensive woes from 2024, aside from outrighting Luis Urias and non-tendering Josh Rojas to make room for a to-be-determined third baseman,” Miller continued. “They don’t have much wiggle room in their budget for free agent acquisitions, but Bohm’s projected 2025 salary of $8.1 million should be more than fine. The Trade: St. Louis sends third baseman Nolan Arenado to Philadelphia; Philadelphia sends 3B Alec Bohm to Seattle; Seattle sends shortstop Colt Emerson (Joel Reuter’s No. 35 overall prospect) to St. Louis.”
In Miller’s trade idea, the Cardinals would receive the Mariners’ No. 1 overall prospect. The only downside to the deal is that St. Louis already has phenom Masyn Winn locked down at shortstop, so acquiring Emerson wouldn’t make sense for the 11-time World Series champions.
