3 young Cardinals who will get buried on the bench if Nolan Arenado isn't traded

The St. Louis Cardinals made it abundantly clear once that offseason began that the organization would be retooling, looking to prioritize giving younger players more playing time in 2025 and shedding money off their payroll.

In order to make that happen, the Cardinals would let their veteran free agents like Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew Kittredge, and Kyle Gibson walk, and also explore trading some of their veterans under contract. Nolan Arenado fit into that second tier, and is a player John Mozeliak has explicitly stated he'd like to move.

Well, outside of a deal with the Houston Astros which Arenado vetoed, St. Louis has had all kinds of trouble finding an interested suitor for the third baseman. With Spring Training right around the corner, the odds of the Cardinals actually trading Arenado appear to be as low as they have been all offseason.

If Arenado is not traded before Opening Day, he's going to play regularly at the hot corner. If that happens, these three players will lose valuable playing time as a result.

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3) Cesar Prieto will likely be stuck in Triple-A if the Cardinals are unable to trade Nolan Arenado

Cesar Prieto was one of three players that the Cardinals acquired in the 2023 trade which sent Jack Flaherty to the Baltimore Orioles. While he is far from a top prospect, Prieto is a player worthy of a look at the MLB level.

The 25-year-old played all 129 of his games this past season at the Triple-A level and played fairly well, slashing .279/.318/.445 with 14 home runs. He didn't light the world on fire by any means, but played pretty well and has spent substantial time at the minor league's highest level over the past couple of years.

Prieto wouldn't be an everyday player if the Cardinals traded Arenado, but, at the very least, he'd have a shot to win a utility infield role in Spring Training. Arenado sticking around would make it almost certain that he'd begin the 2025 campaign in Triple-A with no shot to make the big league roster without an injury.

2) Thomas Saggese faces an uphill battle for playing time if Nolan Arenado isn't traded

Speaking of players acquired at the 2023 trade deadline, the Cardinals acquired Thomas Saggese in the deal which sent Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers. Immediately after he was acquired, he became one of the best prospects in St. Louis' system.

Saggese had a fairly underwhelming year in the minor leagues this past season, but with the Cardinals out of contention, he got to appear in 18 MLB games down the stretch. Saggese didn't tear the cover off the ball by any means, recording just 10 hits in 49 at-bats, but getting regular at-bats for a player who was recently considered a Top-100 prospect in a rebuilding year sounded like a good idea. Arenado sticking around makes that less likely to occur at the MLB level, though.

With Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, and Masyn Winn taking the other three infield spots, Saggese has no shot to play regularly without an injury, making him a bench candidate or, perhaps more likely, a Triple-A regular.

1) The Cardinals being unable to trade Nolan Arenado would leave Nolan Gorman without a position

The Cardinals trading Arenado figured to create a massive opening for Nolan Gorman, a player once thought of as a cornerstone for this franchise. Gorman had an .805 OPS in 2023 and hit 27 home runs in just 119 games, looking like a budding star. His 2024 performance, however, set him back tremendously.

The 24-year-old slashed .203/.271/.400 with 19 home runs and 50 RBI in 107 games played. The power was still very much there for the streaky Gorman, but he struck out a whopping 151 times in 402 plate appearances. In other words, he struck out 37.6 percent of the time he stepped up to the plate. That, of course, is a major issue.

In an environment with less pressure, and perhaps moving back to the hot corner, there was reason for optimism regarding a Gorman bounce-back campaign. Arenado remaining in the mix, however, makes it more likely that Gorman will be nothing more than a bench bat, which would not be good for his development.