The St. Louis Cardinals really should've traded Nolan Arenado by now. While Arenado is, by most accounts, a great teammate and clubhouse presence, it's also increasingly clear the Cards front office would prefer to dump his contract elsewhere. Arenado remains a good enough defensive player to warrant playing time, but his bat has slowed in recent seasons. It's why the Cardinals had a deal in place with the Astros to send Arenado to Houston this winter before he turned it down thanks to his no-trade list. Arenado hasn't made any giant leaps forward in recent weeks, but the lack of trade interest is telling given teams he'd like to join – such as the Dodgers and Yankees – both have holes at third base.
The Yankees recently signed Jeimer Candelario, of all players, as Jazz Chisholm admitted he struggled to throw from third base to first due to a shoulder injury. The Yankees haven't shown much interest in Arenado despite his interest in them. It's a one-sided relationship, in part because the Cardinals would want the Yankees to take on far too much of Arenado's remaining contract. The same can be said about the Dodgers, who will be without Max Muncy for six weeks. Arenado is from California and would be an upgrade over Kiké Hernandez. Yet, Los Angeles doesn't have much interest for the same reason as the Yankees.
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John Mozeliak deserves blame for Cardinals failure to trade Nolan Arenado
If anything, this points the finger squarely at John Mozeliak for not getting a deal done while he had the chance. Sure, Arenado turned down a deal to Houston. The Cardinals should've known that beforehand. They also should've had a backup plan. Instead, they're still dangling Arenado to any interested party, and their leverage has decreased.
Mozeliak has handled these negotiations horribly. Following another injury to the Cardinals star third baseman – one that kept him out of the lineup on Saturday – it's tough to foresee a scenario in which Mozeliak can get back fair value for a player of Arenado's stature. Even with a declining bat, Arenado has double-digit gold gloves under his belt, and remains a great addition for any locker room.
Nolan Arenado's trade value decreases by the day
The Cards have been vague about Arenado's injury, which shouldn't be a surprise given the limited trade interest he has received. Per Oli Marmol, the injury is a shoulder impingement. This was also his first game back from a sprained finger injury.
“It didn’t feel right to go,” Marmol said simply of Saturday's choice to sit Arenado.
The more games Arenado misses, the more his trade value goes down. Mozeliak ought to have seen that coming before the season given his age and experience in the field. Instead, the Cardinals were forced to hold on to a player they didn't even want. Now the front office is dealing with the consequences.