It's been well-established that the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado this offseason. That's not new. 

What has to be hashed out is how the deal is going to happen. Will the Cardinals get an elite prospect for the future Hall of Famer? How about the remaining money (just over $40 million) on his contract? 

It's a hard deal to move and Chaim Bloom will have to get creative in how he does that, and it looks like he's willing to per a new report from The Athletic:

Bloom is expected to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has already told him he would waive his no-trade clause for an expanded list of teams. Ownership is willing to pay a significant portion of the remaining two years on Arenado’s contract to facilitate a trade, a stance it was unwilling to take last season. It would do the same to move right-hander Sonny Gray, who is owed $35 million in 2026.

Fortunately for Bloom, there is a blueprint for such deals, and he needs to look no further than what Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners pulled off in 2019. 

The Mariners deal

Before the 2019 season, the Mariners shipped Robinson Cano and the five years remaining on his contract, along with closer Edwin Diaz, to the New York Mets for top prospect Jarred Kelenic, reliever Anthony Swarzak, outfielder Jay Bruce and two other prospects.

Now, the Mariners sent some money to New York and took some money back in Bruce and Swarzak, but the Mets took most of the money on Cano, which was a real win for Seattle.

Two options for Bloom

Using this as a model, Bloom can do one of two things:

1) He can simply trade Arenado to another team for a prospect. The more money of Arenado's deal he takes on for St. Louis, the better prospect he can essentially "buy" from another team. If the other team values their bottom line more than a future player, this is a route to take.

The Cardinals still likely won't get an elite prospect, but if you are looking to get as solid a prospect as you can, you're going to have to pay.

2) He can go the route of Dipoto. What if he attached another good player to the deal to entice a team? Dipoto surely didn't want to part with Diaz, but it helped facilitate the removal of Cano's money and net Kelenic in the return.

Bloom would still have to eat some of Arenado's money but the return certainly goes up if he includes Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson or Lars Nootbaar in a deal, right? Maybe another team will even take on some of Arenado's money (like New York did) to get the player they really want.

Related Cardinals stories

BLOOM ON GROWTH: Chaim Bloom caught up with MLB Network on Wednesday to talk about areas of focus for the organization. CLICK HERE: 

NOOTBAAR GAINING SUITORS: According to one report, the Cardinals were fielding calls on the outfielder at the outset of the offseason. CLICK HERE: 

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