Cardinals Could Ship $260 Million 8x All-Star Out Of St. Louis In Offseason Fire Sale

The St. Louis Cardinals attempted to trade Nolan Arenado last offseason. They even had agreed to a deal that would have sent him to the Houston Astros.

Unfortunately, Arenado used his no-trade clause to block the deal, and any chances of sending him to the Boston Red Sox were squashed when they ultimately signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal.

Arenado may be out for the season with a shoulder strain, but it's also possible he could have played his last game with the Cardinals. Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants proposed the idea of Arenado possibly being shipped out this offseason as part of the Cardinals rebuild.

"It has been widely reported at this point that the Cardinals are looking to offload both Arenado and Sonny Gray's contracts this offseason, and while they'll have to eat money on both of those contracts to get it done, the club wants to free up their spending as much as possible to give Chaim Bloom flexibility and to recoup money after another drop in revenue in 2025," Jacobs wrote.

The Cardinals are about to fully embrace their rebuild, as evidenced by their sale at the trade deadline. If Arenado is traded, that opens up third base for Nolan Gorman or potentially even top prospect J.J. Wetherholt.

It is fair to wonder if Arenado will be back in 2026, as the Cardinals are unlikely to contend, and Arenado might prefer playing for a team that will be in the race.

This will be a major question mark of the offseason.