Jul 22, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) on deck in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Why Cardinals Picked Diamondbacks In Nolan Arenado Sweepstakes

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Jan 20, 2026 11:06 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals quickly went from a team seemingly without many options to trade Nolan Arenado, to flush with them.

St. Louis ended up trading the third baseman to the Arizona Diamondbacks and since then, details have started to surface showing the interest in him around the league. Before Arenado was dealt, his market appeared to be slow, and then all of a sudden the deal came together with Arizona.

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On Tuesday, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal shed some light on Arenado's market. The big surprise was the fact that Rosenthal reported that the Athletics wanted Arenado and had a deal in place, but things didn't work out. On top of that, Rosenthal reported that the reason why Arenado is in Arizona is "largely" because they took on more salary than the San Diego Padres would have.

St. Louis made the right move with Nolan Arenado

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"The DBacks landed Arenado largely because they were willing to take on more of his salary than the Padres, according to those briefed on the talks," Rosenthal reported. "The Padres planned to move Arenado from third to first base.

"While $11 million over two years for Arenado isn’t especially burdensome, the Padres prefer to invest more heavily in a starting pitcher, a person familiar with their thinking said. Ideally they would pounce on a starter who lingers on the market the way right-hander Nick Pivetta did last offseason. The Padres did not sign Pivetta to his four-year, $55 million deal until Feb. 17."

At the end of the day, if the Cardinals were able to include less money in the deal with Arizona than they would have with the Padres, then it is an absolute win. The Cardinals opened up third base and were able to send him to a team that has playoff aspirations. It took over a year for the Cardinals to get a deal done, but it seems like at the buzzer he became a hot commodity.

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

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