The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquire 3rd baseman Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday the club announced.
Arenado, who still has two years remaining on his current contract, agreed to waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate the deal. Also heading to Arizona is $31M in cash to help offset the 8x All-Star’s contract.
In exchange, the Cardinals will receive RHP Jack Martinez. The 6’4″ Arizona State product went 6-4 with a 5.47 ERA, and 110 Ks across 77.1IP in the NCAA last year.
“We are grateful for Nolan’s five years as a Cardinal, on and off the field — for his drive, his competitiveness, and for all of the memories he gave us,” Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said in a statement.
“As we continue to move forward, we are pleased to add another intriguing pitching prospect to our organization, and excited for the opportunity this move creates for a number of our players to step up and further establish themselves at the big league level.”
Arenado had been on the trading block for sometime now, and was nearly dealt to the Astros last offseason before famously vetoing the trade. The veteran infielder would continue to produce at an above average level defensively, but saw his offence cool off significantly in 2025.
Across 401 at bats, Arenado hit .237 with 12 home runs, 48 runs scored, and 52 RBIs. Not counting the COVID shortened season, those figures all represented the lowest totals of his 13 year big league career.
Arenado figures to replace 3rd baseman Eugenio Suarez who is currently a free agent and is expected to sign elsewhere in 2026. Other options at the corner infield spot for the D-Backs include Blaze Alexander, Jordan Lawlar, and Geraldo Perdomo.
With the 34 year old now out of the picture, St. Louis’ ongoing teardown appears to be nearing completion this winter. The club previously sent 1st baseman Willson Contreras to the Red Sox in December, and prior to that traded SP Sonny Gray to Boston as well.
Fellow infielder Brendan Donovan signed a 1 year, $5.8M contract with the Cardinals to avoid arbitration this offseason. However his name has continued to pop up in trade rumours as potentially the final domino to fall for the Cards.
The San Francisco Giants have been linked to him as they hope to close the gap between themselves and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. With 1 more year of team control beyond the current season, Donovan seems to be a more attractive trade chip than Arenado, and could fetch a decent return if St. Louis decides to move on from him.
Whether that comes before Spring Training, or closer to the MLB trade deadline remains to be seen.
Photo: Johnmaxmena2. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.