Apr 24, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A view of St. Louis Cardinals players hats and gloves in the dugout during a game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-Imagn Images David Kohl-Imagn Images

MLB Insider Applauds Cardinals’ Latest Trade Decision

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Curt Bishop | Last updated Jan 16, 2026 11:00 AM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals completed an important trade on Tuesday, sending third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Jack Martinez. The Cardinals had to eat some money for it to get done, but they finally accomplished their goal.

The team is going through a full-scale rebuild for the first time in over three decades, and this is going to require some sacrifices from the organization. Things didn’t end well for Arenado in St. Louis, and it was time for a change of scenery.

MLB Network insider and St. Louis native Greg Amsinger recently discussed the trade and why it’s a good thing for the Cardinals.

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Arenado Trade Marks New Beginning For Cardinals

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“It was imperative to move him,” Amsinger said.

“Where this team is going, where this franchise is going, the movement, you’ve got to see Nolan Gorman at third base. You’ve got to see JJ Wetherholt in the big leagues. Maybe Jordan Walker gets a chance to play a little third base. All of these questions have to be answered, and with him still on the roster, it was just going to clog things up.”

With Arenado gone, the Cardinals finally get a chance to see what they have in some of these young players and can focus on the future rather than stay stuck in neutral. In fact, if Wetherholt takes over third base and is as good as advertised, then he can potentially be an upgrade over Arenado, who has struggled at the plate the last two years.

The time finally came for the Cardinals to move him and to move forward with their rebuild. They haven’t done this in a long time, but Arenado was the last thing that was preventing St. Louis from a full rebuild.

Now that the eight-time All-Star is in Arizona, the Cardinals can focus on fully rebuilding for 2026 and beyond. It’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks leading up to spring training, as now, the Cardinals will focus on trading Brendan Donovan.

But even if that doesn’t work, they have cleared a major hurdle by moving Arenado to a contender and opening up third base for the younger players and creating more opportunities.

We’ll see what comes next for St. Louis, but it was important to move Arenado.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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