According to MLB Insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the St. Louis Cardinals are still 'aggressively' shopping both Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado with five weeks to go until spring training.

Per Nightengale on Tuesday:

The St. Louis Cardinals are aggressively shopping infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan and third baseman Nolan Arenado. And the Washington Nationals have been shopping starter MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams.

One surprise, one not

It's not at all surprising to hear that the Cardinals are aggressively shopping Arenado. No one expects him to be on the roster by Opening Day; it's just a question of whether he's traded for designated for assignment.

With declining production, rising age and two years and $40 million left on his deal (approximately), Arenado is not a particularly desirable trade chip, either. The Cardinals will likely have to retain most of his salary to move him, and even if they do that, it's unclear if they'll get an impact prospect in return.

Donovan's case is slightly more surprising. He's one of the best and most desirable bats on the market given that he's young (28), affordable ($5~ million arbitration projection) and under team control for two years. Because he's so desirable, it's surprising to hear that the Cardinals are being the aggressors, as opposed to teams stepping up to the plate for him. We know that the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants are very interested.

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Overall Cardinals outlook

The Cardinals have already traded away veteran pillars like Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, so they are very much at the beginning of a rebuild that will take a few seasons. That said, there are reasons for optimism.

The group has a Gold Glove shortstop in Masyn Winn and top prospects like Liam Doyle and JJ Wetherholt coming up the ranks. Furthermore, new President of Baseball Ops Chaim Bloom has handled a rebuild before, though the Boston Red Sox fired him before it came to ultimate fruition. He clearly knows what he's doing, especially in the draft, and fans should be excited about that.

Other news and notes

--Arenado has been connected to the Los Angeles Angels, and since they have moved on from Anthony Rendon, they do have an opening. Arenado has a full no-trade clause though, and it's unclear if he'd be willing to waive it for LA.

--Since Donovan is under team control for two years, St. Louis doesn't have to move him. As a result, they can stand pat and wait for the right package if they want to. We'll see how that position balances with their reported aggression.

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