ST. LOUIS -- Having traded superstar and potential Hall of Famer Mookie Betts in a previous stop in Boston, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom fully understood the gravity of trading 10-time Gold Glover Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
Still, Bloom stressed that he could not let a player’s pedigree impede him from doing what was needed for the Cardinals and their first full-scale rebuild in more than three decades -- even if the transaction spoke volumes about the gulf between the club and World Series contention in the very near future.
TRADE DETAILS
Cardinals get: RHP Jack Martinez
D-backs get: 3B Nolan Arenado, cash
“Selfishly, I’d hope and pray those two situations [with Betts and Arenado] age a little bit differently, but this is not something you take lightly because there are not many people in the Hall of Fame and I believe that [Arenado] will be one of them one day,” said Bloom, who dealt Arenado and $31 million of deferred cash considerations to the D-backs for pitching prospect Jack Martinez.
“[Arenado’s] baseball royalty and we’re mindful of that, but a lot of what comes with this chair is not letting emotion, sentiment and nostalgia override executing what is best for this team. If we are committed to this -- and the more committed that we are to it -- the quicker we’ll get there and the better we’ll be when we do. To me, this falls into that category.”
Already this winter, the Cardinals have traded veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Arenado. In executing those trades, the Cardinals are sending $41 million to the Red Sox ($20 million for Gray and $4 million for Contreras) and D-backs ($17 million for Arenado) for 2026. Bloom complimented the DeWitt ownership group for its willingness to offload money to execute trades that will open up playing time and future salary. Nolan Gorman, who split time last season between second and third base, and top prospect JJ Wetherholt are expected to see playing time at third with Arenado gone.
“You never want to send money out the door that you could be spending on your own organization,” Bloom said of the money the Cardinals are paying other clubs. “But if you net everything out and it gets you to the best deal, then rationally that’s something you should be willing to do. I think everyone [in ownership] has been really clear-eyed and supportive with respect to that.”
Arenado’s trade created a roster spot for hard-throwing reliever Ryne Stanek, whose one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Cardinals became official on Tuesday afternoon. Stanek, a nine-year MLB veteran who worked with Bloom previously in Tampa Bay, has a $6 million club option in his contract for 2027.
Martinez, an eighth-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft by the D-backs, won’t be ranked among the Cardinals' Top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. He has yet to pitch professionally after ending his collegiate season last spring.
Because Arenado had a full no-trade clause in his contract -- one he used last December to block a potential deal to the Astros -- the Cardinals worked with the third baseman to find a landing spot suitable to him.
Arenado, who was acquired from the Rockies in a blockbuster trade in 2021, spent five seasons with the Cardinals. He appeared in three All-Star Games, but just three playoff games with St. Louis.
Arenado finished third in the voting for the NL’s MVP Award in 2022 -- when he slashed .293/.358/.533 (.891 OPS) with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs and won his 10th straight Gold Glove -- but his numbers haven’t gotten close to those levels in the three years since.
After hitting 26 and 16 home runs in 2023 and ’24, respectively, Arenado’s body started to betray him in 2024 and '25 when he suffered back and hand injuries. While his defense returned to its normal stellar levels in 2025, Arenado hit just 12 homers with a .666 OPS in 107 games.
“To be doing this [Arenado trade] and the number of [trades] we’ve done so far, you’re only doing something like this as an organization if you’re not where you want to be,” Bloom said. “That’s not why any of us do this and it’s not where any of us want to be. It’s a sobering thought in terms of the ground we need to cover and the distance between where we are and where we want to get. It’s motivating to make sure we get this on track to make sure [an Arenado trade] is not the kind of business we’re doing.
“To be making a trade of this scale, it’s indicative of us being in a position we hope to get out of sooner rather than later. We are able to reboot this around a group that is hungry and has a chance to form its own identity.”