The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly tried shopping their $260 million infielder, Nolan Arenado, for the entire offseason. The closest the Cardinals have gotten to moving him was when there was reportedly a deal in place to send him to the Houston Astros.
Arenado axed this deal by invoking his no-trade clause, but given the Astros’ recent trend upward, the star infielder might be more willing to waive his no-trade clause.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer recently predicted the Cardinals would eventually trade Arenado to the Astros in exchange for a shocking two-player return.
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Here’s the full deal pitched by Rymer to bring Arenado to Houston:
- Houston Astros receive: 3B Nolan Arenado
- St. Louis Cardinals receive: RHP Lance McCullers Jr., RHP Miguel Ullola (No. 6 prospect)
“If the Cardinals do this deal, their primary motivation would be clearing salary. Whereas they owe Arenado $64 million through 2027, McCullers’ contract has $34.4 million remaining through 2026,” Rymer wrote. “As he hasn’t pitched since 2022, there probably isn’t much to be gained from the latter at this point. This, of course, is where Ullola enters the picture.
“The 22-year-old righty is not a sure thing by any stretch, but he has a plus fastball and he’s fresh off fanning 31.1 percent of the batters he faced in the minors last year. He clearly has ample merit as an upside play.”
The Cardinals would likely need to attach some money to get this deal to go through. It wouldn’t need to be much, but the contract swap of Arenado for Lance McCullers Jr. wouldn’t be enough to pull a top-seven prospect from Houston.
If the Cardinals attached $5 million or $10 million and Arenado waived his no-trade clause, this deal would make perfect sense.
Houston adds a win now infielder with star potential while the Cardinals clear some money and add a very talented prospect.
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