The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a slow start in 2025. They weren't expected to be a contender this year, but they entered play on Wednesday with a 10-14 record and sat in fourth place in the National League Central.
The team is instead enduring a "reset" season, one in which they hope to allow younger players more opportunities.
If they continue to struggle, they may end up being sellers at the trade deadline, and one player in particular they could deal is third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Arenado is off to a hot start for St. Louis. Dayn Perry of CBS Sports notes that the New York Yankees could be a fit.
"All of this is to say the two factors most essential to keeping the Arenado trade market alive – improved offensive performance on Arenado's part and poor results at the team level for St. Louis – are trending in the necessary directions. It's too speculative to get into trade specifics, but it's worth noting a couple of situations. One, the New York Yankees, who employ Arenado's close friend and former Cardinals teammate Paul Goldschmidt, may still see him as an upgrade over Oswaldo Cabrera at third base," Perry wrote.
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Arenado came into Wednesday's series finale against the Atlanta Braves hitting .268/.375/.427 with two home runs, 10 RBI, an .802 OPS and a 126 OPS+.
The Yankees have a need at third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is at second base, and Oswaldo Cabrera isn't setting the world on fire.
They have some injuries to deal with as well, and Arenado could help them bolster their offense. Meanwhile for St. Louis, third base could be opened up for Thomas Saggese or Nolan Gorman.
This would allow St. Louis to get on with their intended reset and clear more opportunities for younger players.
We'll see what things look like at the deadline.
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