Cardinals Trading Star To Yankees Would Fix ‘Unusual Situation’

The St. Louis Cardinals might factor into the New York Yankees’ trade deadline activity in a big way.

New York Post’s Jon Heyman provided a deadline late on Thursday night.

"THE Yankees are starting to make calls in search of a third baseman,” Heyman wrote.

“It’s an unusual situation, where their current third baseman, Jazz Chisholm Jr., is arguably their second-best player. But they also know he belongs at second, where he’s Gold Glove caliber. Plus, they also obviously know for-the-moment second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who prefers 2B to 3B, isn’t what he was.”

Among the top eight 3B targets that Heyman listed for New York was Cardinals star Nolan Arenado.

"(Arenado would) happily join old friends Paul Goldschmidt and LeMahieu. But Yankees higher-ups don’t love how he’s trending offensively, and he has $42M to go through 2026."

Indeed, the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer is making $21 million this season, followed by $16 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027.

That’s the kind of money you earn when you’re an eight-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glover, five-time Silver Slugger, and six-time Silver Slugger.

But is Arenado’s greatness fully behind him? That’s the question New York’s general manager, Brian Cashman, could be mulling.

Arenado was slashing .247/.306/.395/.701 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI entering Friday.

Keep in mind, also, that Arenado has a full no-trade clause, which he recently exercised to block a trade to the Houston Astros. Heyman’s comments suggest Arenado wouldn’t exercise the no-trade clause in the event of a Yankees deal, but you never know.

Beyond Arenado, Heyman listed other targets for New York: Ryan McMahon (Colorado Rockies), Eugenio Suárez (Arizona Diamondbacks), Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pittsburgh Pirates), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Pirates), Luis Rengifo (Los Angeles Angels), Miguel Vargas (Chicago White Sox), Royce Lewis (Minnesota Twins).