{"id":91841,"date":"2024-12-11T15:37:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T20:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=91841"},"modified":"2024-12-11T15:37:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T20:37:28","slug":"cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/11\/cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals Will Have a Void to Fill if Star Player is Traded"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trade talks are heating up<\/a> surrounding St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado<\/a>. What options does the club have to replace him if he is moved this offseason?<\/p>\n

There’s several hurdles to trading Arenado, such as the three years and $74 million remaining on his contract, reports have emerged throughout the offseason suggesting he is likely to be traded to a contending team soon. On December 9, these rumors were substantiated when Katie Woo of The Athletic<\/a> reported that John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations, stated that it is his “intention to try” to finalize such a deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Cardinals enter a period of re-tooling<\/a> and examining their internal options, they are looking to lift Arenado’s money off the books given a fitting return. However, with the imminent departure<\/a> of Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> in free agency, this would leave a gaping hole not only in the Cardinals infield but also in the clubhouse. Through internal development, free agency, and the trade market, here are three ways the Cardinals might attempt to rectify that:<\/p>\n

Arenado’s Potential Departure Leaves Giant Hole for Cardinals<\/h2>\n

If the Arenado does depart from St. Louis, the Cardinals do have options to work with both internally and externally. Nolan Gorman<\/a>, once ranked as the second-highest prospect in the organization, originally transitioned from third base to second when Arenado joined the Cardinals in 2021. At that time, Gorman was playing at Double-A Springfield and showcased strong bat-to-ball skills along with notable power. Although there were concerns about his defense at the new position, Gorman ultimately made the Cardinals’ roster in 2022.<\/p>\n

However, he has struggled to hit reliably in the majors. While 19 home runs in only 107 games in 2024 were impressive, he was ultimately sent back<\/a> to Triple-A Memphis to work on his form after a stretch of rough appearances at the plate in August. Utility player Brendan Donovan<\/a> took over duties at second base in his absence.<\/p>\n

If the Arenado deal falls into place, the Cardinals’ first internal option would lie in Gorman. With a new organizational emphasis on player development, Gorman would be given all the tools he needs to succeed.<\/p>\n

His 16.7% barrel percentage was the seventh-best in the league, putting him in the company of superstars like Juan Soto<\/a> and Shohei Ohtani<\/a>. His isolated power statistics also place him at the top of the league. However, he has struggled mightily to hit the four-seam fastball and has not shown great potential on defence. Perhaps a move back to his natural position and some more extended time in the majors would unlock all the facets of his game.<\/p>\n

Free Agency<\/h3>\n

If Gorman is not their immediate answer at third base, they could pivot to free agency to fill the position. While the top free agent available<\/a> at third base, Alex Bregman<\/a> is well above the Cardinals’ price range, multiple cheaper options could garner interest from the club.<\/p>\n

One of these is Gio Urshela<\/a>. The former Yankees third baseman spent last season with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves. Across both teams, he slashed .250\/.361\/.286 with 9 home runs and 52 RBI.<\/p>\n

While he is already 33, he was able to provide valuable at-bats for the surging Braves down the stretch of last season. In addition, he will likely sign a contract similar to the one-year, $1.5 million contract he signed with the Tigers for 2024, putting him firmly within the Cardinals’ spending interests.<\/p>\n

A reclamation project, and a veteran presence in an increasingly young locker room, could be appealing to the Cardinals in the absence of Arenado.<\/p>\n

Trade<\/h3>\n

The Philadelphia Phillies are considering\u00a0trading<\/a>\u00a028-year-old third baseman Alec Bohm<\/a>. They are also\u00a0interested<\/a> in Nolan Arenado. A trade could work well for both teams. Arenado would strengthen the left side of the Phillies’ infield. He brings veteran leadership and could help the team improve offensively. The Phillies want to stay competitive now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bohm, in 2024, slashed .280\/.448\/.332 in 143 games, producing 3.0 bWAR. Bohm has two more years of team control, both of which he will be available for arbitration. While he is likely to receive a raise this offseason, the Cardinals may view this as an offensive upgrade. This move could help keep them competitive and also make their roster younger.<\/p>\n

To complete the deal, the Cardinals may need to include dominant closer Ryan Helsley<\/a>. They will need to cover some of Arenado’s contract. In return, they could receive Bohm and possibly one or two mid-level prospects. While this scenario seems unlikely, it could be the best outcome for the Cardinals concerning the trade market for their star players.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: \u00a9\u00a0David Banks-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trade talks are heating up surrounding St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. What options does the club have to replace him if he is moved this offseason? There’s several hurdles to trading Arenado, such as the three years and $74 million remaining on his contract, reports have emerged throughout the offseason suggesting he is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5241,"featured_media":91877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1071,25],"tags":[1987,1156,5815,2792,2133,213,2015,3915,2178],"class_list":["post-91841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-mlb","category-cardinals","tag-alec-bohm","tag-alex-bregman","tag-brendan-donovan","tag-gio-urshela","tag-juan-soto","tag-nolan-arenado","tag-nolan-gorman","tag-ryan-helsley","tag-shohei-ohtani"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91878,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91841\/revisions\/91878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}