Cardinals ‘Confounding’ MLB Execs Amid Red Sox-Nolan Arenado Rumors?

The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t done much of anything this offseason.

Sure, they’ve dangled star third baseman Nolan Arenado in trade talks and even reportedly had him shipped to the Houston Astros until Arenado exercised his no-trade clause. Arenado appears to have only one destination in mind, which is the Boston Red Sox, but even after months of rumors of Arenado heading there, the two sides still haven’t closed a deal.

The Cardinals haven’t tried to trade any of their other assets or bring in any stars to bolster their team. That puzzling approach reportedly has left MLB executives with a similar sentiment: What in the world are the Cardinals doing?

“Why St. Louis hasn’t been more aggressive in dealing its bevy of talent — from Arenado to starters Sonny Gray and Erick Fedde to closer Ryan Helsley to young players (Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman) who have hit a wall — is confounding executives around the industry,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote in a piece published Tuesday. “If the Cardinals aren’t going to spend — and they haven’t spent a dollar in free agency — surely, the thinking goes, they should leverage the players they’ve got now and start building toward something more.”

The Cardinals finally trading Arenado to the Red Sox is a move that could facilitate a rebuild for St. Louis, which missed the playoffs the last two seasons. Boston’s cupboards are filled with top-tier prospects in its deep farm system, something Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom knows all about since he served as the Red Sox chief baseball officer for four seasons.

But the hang up in a deal sending Arenado to the Red Sox appears to come in Arenado’s contract. The Cardinals reportedly are willing to pitch in around $15 million to offset Arenado’s three-year, $74 million cost, but it seems that isn’t enough to Boston’s liking.

The Red Sox have leverage in this situation, daring the Cardinals to keep Arenado, who doesn’t want to stay with St. Louis anymore.

“They are seemingly content to run it back, even if that means the awkwardness of Arenado returning,” Passan wrote. “The Cardinals have prepared for that possibility — and are content after a mediocre season in which they lost nearly 400,000 fans with another uninspiring winter. It’s an organization stuck in neutral, a feeling that led to John Mozeliak announcing he will step away after the 2025 season and yielding the team’s president of baseball operations job to former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.

“The Cardinals’ direction will become clearer when owner Bill DeWitt Jr. decides whether to kick in more money to facilitate an Arenado deal. Just how willing he is to do so will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.”