The St. Louis Cardinals are still trying to find a team willing to take on Nolan Arenado’s contract and the remaining $52 million he is owed. Teams are starting to add pieces, which makes the market even tougher to navigate. However, there is one team the Cardinals could reach out to about Arenado: the Philadelphia Phillies.
Reports have swirled about the Phillies having conversations with other teams around the league about Alec Bohm, but the Phillies are not known to be shopping Bohm (as of now).
Even so, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted the Cardinals and Phillies could swap third basemen. “One of the six teams on Arenado’s initial list of preferred landing spots was the Philadelphia Phillies,” wrote Miller. “For that to make sense, though, the Phillies trading away Bohm is a must, perhaps even in the same deal for a rare three-team swap.
Miller’s predicted trade would be in fact a three-team deal. “The Trade: St. Louis sends 3B Nolan Arenado to Philadelphia; Philadelphia sends 3B Alec Bohm to Seattle; Seattle sends SS Colt Emerson (Joel Reuter’s No. 35 overall prospect) to St. Louis,” wrote Miller. This trade makes a lot of sense for all parties involved. The Phillies get an upgrade at third base to make them more of a contender, the Cardinals get Arenado’s contract off of their books and the Seattle Mariners get some much-needed offensive power. If the trade were to go through, it would signify the start of a rebuild for the Cardinals.
However, the Cardinals would still have a strong third baseman they could quickly try to build around.