Ideal Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade suitor revealed after surprising position change

The St. Louis Cardinals are open to trading Nolan Arenado, along with other veteran contributors, this offseason as they hope to retool around their young core. Arenado still has several years remaining on his deal, and is a gold glove-caliber third baseman. With the right team, he could be the missing piece.

Arenado is also a capable power bat. 2024 was a down year bis his standards, but Arenado has 20-plus home run power at his best. That makes a team like the Boston Red Sox an ideal suitor.

The Red Sox are reportedly moving Rafael Devers to first base. Long term, that is likely the best position for him. However, it also opens up the opportunity for Boston to either trade for or sign a high-profile third baseman.

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Boston Red Sox linked to Nolan Arenado, and it makes a lot of sense

Sean McAdam of MassLive listed Arenado as a likely trade candidate for the Red Sox.

"Don’t rule out some Red Sox interest in Nolan Arenado. There’s been at some internal talk about moving Rafael Devers off third base at some point and Arenado is viewed as a potential Plan B. The Cardinals, who are watching their payroll carefully, wouldn’t be opposed to moving him if a team is willing to take on most of the remaining money. One potential obstacle: Arenado has a full no-trade clause," McAdam wrote.

Well, the first step of that plan is taken care of. Adding Arenado is likely a cheaper plan than, say, signing Alex Bregman to a long-term deal. The difference in overall production between Arenado and Bregman isn't high enough to consider the latter a significant upgrade, either.

Add in the Boston-St. Louis connection, which is that Chaim Bloom is now a key member of the Cards front office, and we could have a deal in the making. The Red Sox farm system is strong and has plenty of young pitchers the Cards would covet.

It's certainly worth exploring for both teams.