There have been many recent talks about the St. Louis Cardinals trying to acquire Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies.  According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, a deal for the star third baseman seems “inevitable,” whether that be by Opening Day or by the July trade deadline. I also think an Arenado trade is very much in St. Louis’ near future.

According to Ryan Casteel, a baseball player here at Liberty High School, he said,  “I think Arenado would be a good fit for this team, because he is an overall team player, and he feels as if he would fit in with the Cardinals family.”

Arenado has said before that he would love to play in St. Louis and the Cardinals recently made a trade with the Rays that may be connected to a possible future deal. The Rays acquired first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez, outfielder Randy Arozarena, and the Cardinals’ Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, the Rays’ pick in Competitive Balance Round B, and a catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez from the lower levels of the minors. 

There is a lot of speculation that the Redbirds acquired Liberatore to flip for Nolan Arenado. Although it is not 100% certain, it sure would make sense. The Rockies dug themselves into a deep hole in their farm system as they traded away a lot of talent on the mound. Players such as Adam Ottovino and Jordan Lyles for example. Adding a very solid pitching prospect in the mix to the Arenado trade seems very likely, but giving up one of the Cardinals’ best hitters and one of their top outfield prospects seems a bit far fetched. 

Most say that the Cardinals are going to flip Liberatore, but I do not see general manager John Mozeliak going through with that unless the Rockies possibly throw in another player or possible draft pick. Mo has never been the GM to go through with a trade that big. In the Goldschmidt trade the last offseason, the Cardinals only dealt RHP Luke Weaver, Carson Kelly, and a low-level middle infield prospect. This was one of the biggest trades of this era as Goldschmidt’s contract had him getting paid $14.5 million. 

Considering those numbers, an Arenado trade seems very unlikely. According to Jeff Passan, MLB Network reporter, “Cardinals and Rockies on an Arenado deal ‘haven’t gone anywhere,’ and that it’s a ‘longshot’ Arenado gets dealt before the season.” I think he is right, the Cardinals would never overpay for Arenado given that he has the option to opt-out after 2021. Reports say that the Cardinals are trying to send players as if Arenado had two years left in his contract while the Rockies are trying to get players as if he had six years left in his contract. So the talks are still in a preliminary stage, but St. Louis shouldn’t be surprised if they strike a trade for this all-star.