Yankees-Red Sox battle for Nolan Arenado trade may never get off the ground

John Mozeliak and the St. Louis Cardinals had made it no secret that they were looking to trade veteran third baseman and perennial Gold Glover Nolan Arenado this offseason. As the organization aims to shed salary and start a proverbial rebuild with younger pieces at the center, moving Arenado seemed the most obvious route for them to go.

And it seemed at some point that they found the right partner as well as the Cardinals had a trade agreed upon with the Houston Astros. Arenado, however, ruined their best-laid plans by exercising his no-trade clause. The thought, reportedly, at the time was that Arenado and St. Louis could potentially circle back to Houston as the free agent market materialized.

Houston, however, was disinclined to wait. They pivoted, locking Isaac Paredes in at third by signing free-agent first baseman Christian Walker. For the Cardinals in Arenado, that seemingly shifted all of the attention to two AL East rivals, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, as the likeliest suitors for an Arenado trade.

Now, even that might not be the case for the Cardinals.

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Yankees and Red Sox look less likely for Nolan Arenado trade with latest Cardinals stance

Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic ($) not only reported that there is a "plausible reality" wherein Arenado ultimately stays with the Cardinals for the 2025 season, but that there has also "been minimal traction" with any trade talks since the Astros deal came to a screeching halt. They mentioned the Yankees and Red Sox but also said that each team's interest level was difficult to gauge at this point.

More importantly, though, Sammon and Woo reported that the Yankees "aren't interested in taking on the majority of his contract", despite the fact that they like the fit of Arenado. While the Red Sox weren't mentioned in that same breath, it's worth noting that they're also trying to salary dump their own contract according to some reports with Masataka Yoshida.

That all leads to the hammer from this report: The Cardinals are "rather reluctant to eat a large portion of his salary". To some degree, that always would make sense considering Mozeliak's entire motivation to move Arenado is shedding payroll. At the same time, we're talking about a team that probably can't be choosy at this point and Mozeliak, by his own admission, seems to prefer not having an aging veteran on an expensive contract still on the books.

If the Cardinals aren't going to eat the majority of Arenado's salary, though, then the Yankees and Red Sox almost surely seem out. Both teams have deep pockets but they also aren't in the business of just setting money on fire. Arenado is attractive as a veteran adult in the room, but there are concerns about the decline of his bat. Paying him the full money on his deal just isn't worth it for the player either team would be getting.

Things, of course, can change as we get deeper into the winter and if a sense of desperation takes over the Cardinals. That could absolutely change the calculus in this equation. But on the whole, it certainly seems like Arenado is staying put as the two most likely suitors, New York and Boston, don't match up with what St. Louis is currently trying to accomplish.