Cardinals insider gets real on Nolan Arenado's trade situation in St. Louis

Nolan Arenado has been linked to a number of teams this offseason. The multiple Gold Glove-winning third baseman is still going strong and a move away from St. Louis to a more competitive team could be a win for him and both the franchises involved.

St. Louis Cardinals analyst David Gould discussed the situation on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast on Monday. He started by talking about how Alex Bregman, the much fancied third baseman free agency, could dictate where Nolan Arenado ends up. Gould then addressed the Cardinals and Arenado's mutual interest in parting ways.

"The Cardinals' motivation for moving Nolan is well known, or their interest, I should say, in moving Nolan is well known. His interest in playing for a contender is well known, so it's not a matter of a whole lot of leverage; it's a matter of a whole lot of dollars and what the Cardinals are willing to do to move him or what they’re unwilling to do, and whether they'll be going into the season with him.

"There's also just, I want to stress this, and I know it's super boring because people want to fixate on like, what town is he going to go to, what team is he going to go to, and what prospects are the Cardinals going to get in return. There's just a lot of elements of his contract too ... and then they wanna move money around, you have to create other elements of the contract to do so and some of those are not palatable." [13:14]

As Gould hinted, this could be a tricky trade to navigate.

Nolan Arenado trade key to rebuild, per Cardinals President

Cardinals President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak has said that the team is looking to move Nolan Arenado in order to create space in their payroll and become a better team in 2025. If the veteran infielder stays on then it is likely to hinder the process. Here's what Mozeliak told MLB Network in December:

“We both remain optimistic that both parties will remain happy somehow. [Arenado remaining with the Cardinals] is a possibility, but I’m not sure that puts us where we want to be. From a financial standpoint of trying to move our payroll – there are certainly other ways to do that, but [trading Arenado] would be a big help. It’s financial, but it also creates a runway for someone else,” Mozeliak said.

The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been linked to Nolan Arenado. As Spring Training edges closer, Arenado talks are likely to heat up and it will be interesting to see if the Cards can move him before the season starts.