Nolan Arenado has waived his no-trade clause.
After a year and a half of trying to make it happen, the St. Louis Cardinals have finally traded third baseman Nolan Arenado, sending him to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday morning.
ESPN's Jeff Passan had the information on social media and the Cardinals confirmed the deal.
In addition to Arenado, the Cardinals are sending $31 million of his $42 million remaining contract. They are receiving pitching prospect Jack Martinez.
About Arenado
A 13-year veteran of the Colorado Rockies and Cardinals, Arenado is one of the most accomplished players of the 2000s. A 10-time Gold Glover, an eight-time All-Star, a six-time Platinum Glove winner and a five-time Silver Slugger, Arenado has 353 career home runs and 1,184 RBIs.
He has three seasons of 40 homers or more and seven of at least 30. He led the National League in homers in 2015, 2016 and 2018. However, his numbers have fallen off badly in the last two seasons, as he hit just 16 homers in 2024 and hit only 12 in 107 games in 2025.
The Cardinals had tried to trade him to the Houston Astros last offseason, but he didn't waive his no-trade clause. He did this time around.
Given his accomplishments, he is a probable Hall of Famer when his career is over.
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About Jack Martinez
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.
Bloom backs it up
We've been talking for months about how Chaim Bloom was going to work to rebuild the Cardinals organization. And so far, he's backed up everything we've thought. He's traded away high-priced veterans like Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Arenado, and he's included money in order to facilitate deals.
He's also worked hard to acquire pitching at every turn, getting pitching in the returns for each of the three players traded.
What's next?
With an Arenado deal done, it seems likely that Brendan Donovan will be dealt next. We know that the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox have been interested throughout the offseason. Now Bloom can turn his attention there.
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Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!