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The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired veteran third baseman and eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado in a serious commerce with the St. Louis Cardinals, the staff introduced Tuesday. The D-backs acquired Arenado and money from the Cardinals for minor-league righty Jack Martinez. Arenado waived his no-trade clause and agreed to the deal.
As with the Willson Contreras and Sonny Grey trades earlier this winter, the Cardinals are paying down important wage to facilitate the deal. Arizona pays solely $5 million of Arenado’s $27 million wage in 2026 and $6 million of his $15 million wage in 2027, per the Arizona Republic. The Colorado Rockies will contribute $5 million towards Arenado’s wage for 2026, leaving St. Louis on the hook for the remaining $26 million from 2026-27.
The deal ends a 16-month effort to commerce Arenado. He used his no-trade clause to dam a transfer to the Houston Astros final winter, when he would reportedly settle for a commerce to just a few groups. No deal was accomplished final season, so Arenado remained with the Cardinals in 2025, and the staff gave him a farewell ship off of their last house sport. That felt like the purpose of no return. Arenado reportedly expanded his checklist of groups this winter and finally the Cardinals acquired one thing executed with the D-backs.
Arenado, who will flip 35 years of age in April, is coming off a 2025 season during which he slashed .237/.289/.377 (87 OPS+) with 12 house runs in 107 video games for the Cardinals. What turned out to be his last marketing campaign in St. Louis was notable for Arenado’s ongoing decline on the plate. On the OPS+ degree, Arenado declined from a 150 mark in 2022, when he completed third within the Nationwide League MVP balloting, to 108 in 2023 to 101 in 2024 to final yr’s 87. Whether or not Arenado can faucet into his remaining pull-side energy, which drove his offensive worth for thus a few years, and revel in a rebound on the plate will go a great distance towards figuring out whether or not the D-backs have been clever to amass him. In line with superior metrics, Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, stays a robust defender at third base.
Erstwhile prime prospect Jordan Lawlar has struggled in his transient MLB motion and, clearly, the D-backs weren’t snug going into 2026 with him on the scorching nook. That Arizona performed utility man Blaze Alexander, not Lawlar, as their common third baseman following the Eugenio Suárez commerce final summer time, advised they do not contemplate Lawlar prepared for full-time responsibility. Arenado offers the membership an affordable veteran two-year stopgap on the scorching nook.
For his profession, Arenado throughout elements of 13 MLB seasons has an OPS+ of 119 with 1,921 hits; 353 house runs; and 405 doubles. Arenado’s WAR of 57.8 alongside along with his status as one of many best defensive third basemen ever imply he’ll someday have a critical likelihood at making the Baseball Corridor of Fame. For now, although, the main target is on what Arenado will imply to the D-backs for 2026 and 2027.
As for the Cardinals, the commerce continues an offseason teardown that noticed Contreras and Grey traded to the Boston Pink Sox in separate offers a number of weeks again. Tremendous utility man Brendan Donovan and lefty reliever JoJo Romero are prone to be the subsequent Cardinals moved, presumably outfielder Lars Nootbaar as effectively. Curiosity in Donovan particularly is critical.
Martinez, 22, was Arizona’s eighth-round decide within the 2025 draft. He had a 5.47 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 77 ⅓ innings at Arizona State final spring. Baseball America didn’t rank Martinez among the many D-backs’ prime 30 prospects previous to the commerce.
The D-backs went 80-82 and missed the postseason in 2025. The Cardinals went 78-84 and are embarking on what quantities to a rebuild underneath new POBO Chaim Bloom.
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