Cardinals' Nolan Arenado Has Somewhat Surprising 2025 Projection

When Opening Day gets here in a few weeks it's significantly more likely than not that Nolan Arenado will be the St. Louis Cardinals' starting third baseman.

Arenado was in trade rumors for months, obviously, but he wasn't moved and is still with the team. Nothing can be fully ruled out at this point, but it certainly doesn't seem like there is anything brewing right now.

The Cardinals made it known that they wanted to move Arenado for financial purposes. That didn't work out for St. Louis, but that surely will help the product on the field at least. Arenado has been one of the best third basemen in baseball over the last 12 years.

His offensive numbers weren't quite where he wanted them to be in 2024, but he still had 16 home runs, 71 RBIs, and a .272/.325/.394 slash line in 152 games while playing Gold Glove-level defense.

He's had some negative press, but he is still one of the best third basemen in the league and can have a big impact in 2025. While this is the case, FanGraphs' steamer projection doesn't have high expectations for Arenado. They are projecting him to have an uptick in power but take a big step back on-base wise. They are projecting him to finish the season with 22 home runs, 73 RBIs, and a .257/.314/.425 slash line in 150 games.

That would be the lowest batting average of his career if it were to come to fruition.