The St. Louis Cardinals completed their third big trade of the offseason on Tuesday, sending eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals received pitching prospect Jack Martinez and $11 million in salary relief in the deal. They are still going to pay $31 million of the $42 million remaining on Arenado's contract.

However, as noted by The Athletic on Wednesday, there was another suitor for Arenado: The San Diego Padres.

According to the outlet, the Padres wanted Arenado to play first base while keeping Manny Machado at third. Arenado had expressed a willingness to change positions in order to up his defensive flexibility.

So what was the issue with San Diego?

The holdup, according to those briefed on the talks, was that the Padres were unwilling to take on as much of Arenado’s salary as the D-Backs. And it’s not as if the D-Backs took on a whole lot – the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to pay $31 million of Arenado’s remaining $42 million over the next two years while receiving minor-league right-hander Jack Martinez in return.

The Padres are in the midst of a financial reset, so it's understandable why they didn't to take on more money.

The Cardinals have now sent $20 million to the Red Sox in the Sonny Gray trade, $8 million more to Boston in the Willson Contreras trade and $31 million to Arizona. Given that they've spent $59 million to send players away, it doesn't seem like total financial relief was the primary goal of the Arenado trade, but it's also understandable why they wouldn't want to take on even more money as well.

Now 22 years old, Martinez was selected in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Arizona State. He did not play after getting drafted, so he has yet to appear in a professional game. He went 6-4 for the Sun Devils in 2025, posting a 5.47 ERA. He struck out 110 batters in 77.1 innings, showcasing the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that teams salivate over.

He's more of a fun lottery ticket than a sure thing at this point, but Chaim Bloom and Co. can add him to the stockpile of arms they've acquired this offseason, including Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Brandon Clarke and Yhoiker Fajardo.

The Cardinals also have recent draft pick Liam Doyle in the fold, who was just ranked as the fourth-best left-handed pitching prospect in the sport by MLB Pipeline.

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