Cardinals Blockbuster Trade Chatter Has Gotten Out Of Hand

The last few months have been pretty odd for the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis took a step forward in 2024. The Cardinals were buyers at the trade deadline with their big addition being Erick Fedde. The Cardinals finished above .500, but didn't make the playoffs. After the season, the club brought a lot of rumors on themselves as they made it very clear they wanted to make some trades and "reset" the organization.

No-trade clauses played a big role in the lack of trades. Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, and Miles Mikolas all have no-trade clauses.

The last few months have been filled with pretty much nothing but speculation about where so-and-so could go. It's one thing when a team insider says they specifically have heard that "X team" are interested in "Y player," but it's another when it's just pure speculation. For example, Arenado undoubtedly has been the more talked about potential trade candidate in the league over the last few months. With each passing day his name gets thrown around with another team it seems.

Recently, it has been the Boston Red Sox again with Triston Casas going down with a long-term injury. Areando was linked to Boston all offseason, but a deal didn't get done because the club signed Alex Bregman. Now, there were reports that Arenado could be willing to move to first base, but that was when there was months ahead in an offseason to work on it plus Spring Training. Now, the season is in full swing. He's never played first base at the big league level, but that hasn't stopped the wild speculation.

It's fun to talk about and think about where some guys could go if they were to get moved. But, some of the speculation this season surely has gone too far and aren't realistic.