The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t won a playoff series since 2019 and haven’t made the postseason since 2022. With the NL Central looking especially competitive this year, St. Louis is keeping its eye on the future. And the team just traded away a major piece of their team over the past half decade.
The Cardinals dealt third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Jack Martinez. St. Louis is also footing much of the bill, sending $31 million of Arenado’s remaining $42 million in salary to the Diamondbacks.
In fact, the Cardinals have spent $59 million to get three players off the team. St. Louis made two separate trades with the Boston Red Sox, dealing right-hander Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras—and sending along money in both deals.
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Arenado signed a nine-year, $275 million contract with the Colorado Rockies before the 2019 season. Arizona is only on the hook for $11 million over the next two seasons, $5 million in 2026 and $6 million in 2027.
Arenado, Gray, and Contreras all had no-trade clauses as part of their contracts, and all three waived those clauses to allow the trades to happen.
The Cardinals traded for Arenado in 2021. He spent five years with the club, including the 2022 season, when the Cardinals last won the NL Central.
Over his career, Arenado has won 10 Gold Gloves, six platinum gloves, and made eight All-Star teams. He’s hitting a lifetime .282/.338/.507 with 353 home runs and 1,184 RBIs.
The Diamondbacks had a losing record last year, finishing 80-82. However, they’re just three years removed from reaching the World Series and still have several star players on the roster, including Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte. Now, the lineup is adding Arenado, an elite defender who’s had several strong seasons at the plate throughout his career. However, he’ll turn 35 in April, so his prime days are behind him.
While the Cardinals are forking over a lot of money to send Arenado elsewhere, they’re getting a little bit of relief from the Rockies. Colorado owes one more payment of $5 million to the Cardinals—even though Arenado hasn’t played for the Rockies since 2021.
That means three different teams will be paying Arenado next year, and he’ll only be playing for one of them. Not a bad deal at all.
