5 teams who could trade for Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado

3. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals reportedly had serious interest in Arenado a year ago, before he signed his big extension with the Rockies of course. They did ultimately make a notable addition last offseason, getting first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But their need at third base and for some extra thunder in the middle of the lineup might be even greater now, as Matt Carpenter gets further from his peak and outfielder Marcell Ozuna is all but gone in free agency with multiple other teams interested.

St. Louis is already sitting with a top-10 projected payroll for 2020, but they are looking at a couple prominent free agent starting pitchers (Hyun-Jin Ryu, Madison Bumgarner) and appear ready to spend some. Arenado obviously comes with a long-term obligation that will carry him into his mid-30s (barring a decision to opt put), and the Cardinals may not want to pay for a potential decline phase (see the decision, smart in hindsight, to not pony up and keep Albert Pujols years ago).

But Arenado is younger than Pujols was eight years ago, and he’s a premium player at the more premium (harder to replace) of the corner infield spots. The Cardinals should easily be revisiting their interest in the seven-time Gold Glover and five-time All-Star.