The longtime veteran at hot corner for St. Louis agreed to waive his no-trade clause after efforts to move him for a year.
The St. Louis Cardinals have finally found a landing space for third baseman Nolan Arenado after trying to move him since last offseason. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Tuesday that they are trading Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks, later confirmed by the Diamondbacks. Arenado agreed to waive his no-trade clause this time versus declining to do so in the attempt to send him to the Houston Astros. The Cardinals will receive righty pitching prospect Jack Martinez, who Arizona selected in the eighth round of last year’s draft from Arizona State.
The Cardinals are also sending a considerable portion of his $42 million remaining on his contract with $31 million going to the Diamondbacks. Arenado is a 13-year vet who began his career with the Colorado Rockies, where he became the only infielder to win the Gold Glove award in each of his first 10 seasons in the MLB. He is also an eight-time All-Star, six-time Platinum Glove winner, and five-time Silver Slugger with 353 career homers and 1,184 RBIs.
Here is the full story from Cardinals Roundtable writer Brady Farkas on what Arizona receives in Arenado and what St. Louis will get in their new prospect.
In St. Louis, they will look to develop 22-year Martinez, who has yet to appear in a professional game since being drafted. Martinez went 6-4 for the Sun Devils with a 5.47 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 77.1 innings in 2025. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has been clear about his vision to rebuild their club, and so far, the sending off of pricey vets and acquisition of pitching talent is in line with that goal.