3 Nolan Arenado trade destinations Cardinals will have to beg for salary dump

The St. Louis Cardinals are finally entering the rebuild they should have entered a few seasons ago. They're letting go of numerous veteran pitchers while also exploring potential trades for players like Nolan Arenado and Ryan Helsley. St. Louis is likely letting veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt walk in free agency as well.

But they continue to run into an issue with their veteran third baseman. Arenado is set to make $52 million for the rest of his time with St. Louis and the Cardinals don't want to pay him that money. But the veteran has a no-trade clause in his contract and he's reportedly only cleared that clause for six teams: the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, and New York Mets.

The Cardinals hold close to zero leverage here. They're going to need to eat more of the veteran's contract than they wanted to if they want to move him to one of these teams.

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3. Boston Red Sox

The rumors surrounding the Red Sox include adding a third baseman, shifting Rafael Devers over to first base and trading young infielder Triston Casas for a starting pitcher. While this seems easy on paper, it's quite a difficult plan to pull off. Boston can't trade Casas until it knows it has a reasonable upgrade at third base. But it's also tough for the Red Sox to acquire a player like Arenado if it might just create a log jam in the infield.

That is unless the Cardinals are willing to eat closer to 75 percent of Arenado's deal. If the Cardinals take on around $30 million or $35 million of the remaining $52 million, Boston could be more willing to take the risk on the veteran third baseman.

This would clear them up to freely deal Casas for a starting pitcher like Luis Castillo or George Kirby from the Seattle Mariners. Casas could also be a key piece in a deal for a pitcher like Dylan Cease, who has Cy Young potential when he puts everything together.

2. New York Mets

The New York Mets need to add a corner infielder one way or another. They have Mark Vientos already, who has the ability to play either first base or third base. Longtime first baseman Pete Alonso is a free agent, but the Mets remain in the hunt to bring him back, especially with Christian Walker coming off the board to the Houston Astros.

Alonso is the only thing that throws a wrench in this plan. If he's brought back to play first base, it's unlikely the Mets look to acquire Arenado as well. Unless the Mets are willing to rotate Vientos from first base to third base, Pete Alonso from first base to designated hitter, while Arenado rotates in at third base.

It's an intriguing plan. If the Mets don't try to land Alonso again, the slugger will sign elsewhere and a trade for Arenado makes more sense. But after signing Juan Soto for nearly $800 million, New York will likely need the Cardinals to eat a large chunk of the deal to land him. New York's farm system isn't very deep, so the prospect return would likely be quite minimal for Arenado to head to Queens.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers will ultimately be the top team to land Arenado, which is quite ironic because they don't seem to be too aggressive in pursuit of him. The Astros have already tried to acquire Arenado, but he reportedly blocked the trade. It seems as though the Phillies will opt to keep Alec Bohm at third base. The Padres have Manny Machado and a loaded infield. The New York Yankees are reportedly trying to get a deal done, but it's unclear if Arenado would even clear a deal there in the first place.

While the Angels, Mets, and Red Sox are intriguing options, they just don't make as much sense as the Dodgers. Los Angeles has a lot of pitching depth in their system, including former top prospect Bobby Miller. Miller could be sent to St. Louis in exchange for Arenado and a boatload of cash.

If Miller was the return, the Cardinals would likely pay close to $30 million or $40 million to get Arenado off their books.

This would be a luxury move for the Dodgers, but they're the kind of team that will make all the luxury moves possible. It allows Arenado to play third base while moving other infielders around. It also allows the Dodgers to keep Mookie Betts in the outfield, comfortably.