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Nolan Arenado remains a player the Cardinals would love to trade.

The St. Louis Cardinals have already made two trades this offseason, both with the Boston Red Sox. Sonny Gray was the first player to go, while Willson Contreras was traded to Boston about a month later. Chaim Bloom, the new president of baseball operations, is not done making moves, though. Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero both have great trade value. But Nolan Arenado is the biggest name on the trade market in St. Louis.

Arenado is a player the Cardinals have been shopping for quite some time now. However, the third baseman has a full no-trade clause in his contract. This means he has to agree to any deal that might happen. But both sides are open and willing to move on from each other; it just has to be the right fit.

The problem is that there is currently not much of a market for Arenado.

“The two deals we did earlier in the offseason [with Gray and Contreras], the return isn’t going to look like that at all. The market just isn’t there,” a source told John Denton of MLB.com.

Nolan Arenado’s Trade Value

GettyNolan Arenado’s trade market has remained dormant.

Starting his rookie year, Arenado won 10 straight Gold Glove awards at third base. He is also an eight-time All-Star. The 34-year-old is nearing the end of his career, though.

Over the last three seasons, Arenado has finished with a worse OPS in each of them. In 2025, he finished with an OPS under .700 and an OPS+ of 87. For reference, the league average OPS+ is 100. Along with that, Arenado finished last season with the fewest home runs (12) since his rookie season and the fewest games played in his career — not including 2020, of course.

Arenado is also owed $16 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027 before becoming a free agent for the 2028 season. The Colorado Rockies will pay a small portion of that salary, but teams could be unwilling to spend that money with his decline in performance at the plate.

Still, Arenado is a great third baseman who might be willing to move to first base as his career winds down. St. Louis will want a solid return for Arenado, and their asking price is another reason he is still playing at Busch Stadium.

Free Agency Could Be Holding Teams Back

GettyNolan Arenado will likely have to wait until spring training for any trade to happen.

There are plenty of teams that could use a third baseman like Arenado. This is evident by the amount of interest in Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez in free agency. These two players are better hitters at the moment, but Arenado is just as good a defender.

Still, with these two as free agents, and even Bo Bichette, Arenado is not the first choice for many organizations. The same source from earlier told Denton that Arenado is considered a fallback plan for the teams that miss out on Bregman and Suarez.

With that in mind, a deal is unlikely to materialize anytime soon. Patience is something the Cardinals have to practice when shopping Arenado. As long as there are still a few free agents mulling offers, Arenado will stay in St. Louis.

If a trade is to be made, it is likely not going to happen until spring training or later.

Cam Zunkel Cam Zunkel has been a sports journalist since 2022. He covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Cam also covers multiple MLB teams for On SI – part of the Sports Illustrated Brand. He is a former collegiate baseball player with two stops in the independent Frontier League. More about Cam Zunkel