Nolan Arenado rumors get spicier by the second for Cardinals but John Mozeliak can't cook

Nolan Arenado hasn't come out and demanded a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, but at this point he doesn't have to. With the team openly admitting that it's looking to get younger and cheaper as it retools for the future, an aging third baseman with three years and nearly $100 million on his contract doesn't exactly fit into those plans. It's an open secret that a deal is a when, rather than an if, with Arenado himself even willing to move to first base to help move things along.

On the one hand, the Cardinals got some exciting news on that front over the weekend. According to a report from NJ.com insider Randy Miller, both the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in acquiring Arenado.

"I think the Cardinals are trying to trade him, St. Louis would have to pick up some of the money and maybe the Yankees could have a deal where they trade some prospects," Miller said on New York's WFAN Radio. "I keep hearing it's going to be either the Yankees or the Dodgers. I think he's a West Coast guy that would prefer to go to the Dodgers and I think the Dodgers want him."

Given how iffy the trade market figured to be for a player who's declined offensively in each of the past two seasons and will be under contract until he's 36, any interest is good interest. But as with everything with Mozeliak these days, it comes with some cause for concern: It's all well and good for Arenado to have suitors on the market, but these two teams in particular suggest that Cardinals fans might not be happy with the return for one of their biggest trade chips.

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Dodgers, Yankees reportedly interested in Nolan Arenado

You can understand why both New York and L.A. would be in on Arenado. The Yankees have holes to fill at both second base and first base, and while Christian Walker is a popular target, the free-agent market behind him is pretty bare. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are always down to pick up someone else's distressed asset, and have plenty of lineup flexibility given the ability of both Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts to play all around the infield and outfield.

If the Yankees and Dodgers are the ones primarily interested in Arenado, though, it sure seems like Mozeliak won't be getting much in the way of actual talent in return. The primary upside to both of those destinations is financial: These are the two richest franchises in the sport, and both of them would be able to defray much if not most of the cost of Arenado's contract over the next few years. St. Louis would love to get out from under that deal as much as it can, but it also needs an injection of young talent after years of poor player development.

And do you really trust Mozeliak to make the right call there in a lame-duck year? This is the problem for Cardinals fans: St. Louis has movable veterans and a path toward a quick rebuild and a new era of contention, but not if the same guy who got them into this mess is allowed to be the one to try and get them out. At this point, it's hard to trust Mozeliak in any trade negotiations, much less against Andrew Friedman and Brian Cashman.