Huge congrats: The st. louis cardinals head key player nolan arenado was Terminates because of his mental health and health problems.

A pivotal offseason is about to take shape for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Instead of signing players in free agency and looking for ways to improve their team, the Cardinals are instead looking to cut costs and essentially rebuild. This means some key players will be traded away.

While Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray have already used their no-trade clauses to stay in St. Louis, other players could be on the move.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirmed that the Cardinals are actively shopping third baseman Nolan Arenado.

“Over the past week, the Cardinals continued reaching out to a few clubs and gauging interest in trading for All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado, multiple sources told the Post-Dispatch,” Goold wrote. “If any of these talks produce an appealing deal that could place Arenado with a championship-chasing or contending team, the Cardinals plan to present that to their third baseman, who has millions left on his contract and a no-trade clause.”

Arenado is an eight-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger, 10-time Gold Glover and a six-time Platinum Glove Award winner.

However, he had a bit of a down season in 2024. The former National League MVP finalist hit .272 with 71 RBI but with just 16 home runs and a sub-par .719 OPS.

The Cardinals aren’t going to get a major haul in return for the struggling third baseman, but while Goold notes Arenado has yet to request a trade, he likely would prefer to not sit through a rebuild and instead go play for a championship contender.

Arenado has three years and $74 million remaining on his contract. Trading him would be a good way for the Cardinals to trim their payroll and cut some costs.

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Speculation regarding a potential offseason trade of Nolan Arenado kicked up the moment president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced the club would take a step back and focus on player development and that they were beginning a transitional process that would see Chaim Bloom take over as president of baseball operations beginning next offseason. Unsurprisingly, that announcement was quickly followed by reports that the Cardinals indeed planned to gauge the market for interest in Arenado.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch now reports that, to no one’s surprise, the Cardinals have spent the early stages of the offseason doing just that. He adds one critical element, writing that Arenado has not specifically asked to be traded. That’s a key wrinkle in the saga, as it differs from the last time Arenado was traded. The then-Rockies third baseman was frustrated in the years following his initial extension in Colorado, as the team hadn’t put together a competitive roster. Given the circumstances leading to his last trade, it was only fair to wonder whether Arenado might waive his no-trade clause to try to facilitate a trade to a team with more of a win-now mentality than the 2025 Cardinals will have. That doesn’t appear to be the case at this time.

It’s still possible, of course, that Arenado could be on the move at some point this winter. While he apparently has not specifically requested a trade, there’s simultaneously no indication that he’s voiced a preference to remain with the Cardinals through their reset period (as teammates Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, who also have no-trade clauses, reportedly have done). Arenado’s original motivation in pursuing a trade from the Rockies and his decision to forgo the opt-out in his contract following the 2021 season stemmed from a desire to put down roots in a perennially competitive setting.

If the Cards find a deal to their liking that would send him to a clear win-now team, they’d likely present him with the scenario and he’d then have to weigh the merits of approving a deal. But, that’s a far different scenario than Arenado asking to be moved and the pressure that would put on Mozeliak, Bloom and the rest of the front office to find a deal or head into the season with a veteran who’s clearly unhappy to be on the roster.