The D-backs agreed to a trade with the Cardinals for veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado, the clubs announced on Tuesday. St. Louis will receive 22-year-old right-hander Jack Martinez -- an eighth-round pick from the 2025 MLB Draft out of Arizona State -- in return.
Arenado is owed $42 million over the next two seasons, and Arizona will receive $31 million in the deal, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, though the present-day impact for the Cardinals comes out to less than that as St. Louis will pay out the $6 million in deferred money owed to Arenado, which isn't payable until 2040-41.
Arenado had a no-trade clause that he waived for the D-backs.
Arenado, 34, is among the game’s most decorated active players with 10 Gold Gloves, eight All-Star appointments, six Platinum Glove awards, five Silver Sluggers and three NL home run titles.
Arenado is expected to be Arizona's primary third baseman, a position that had been filled by Blaze Alexander following the team's trade of Eugenio Suárez to the Mariners at last year's Trade Deadline. Alexander did play some outfield last year and could slide into the open left field position for Arizona in 2026.
Arenado finished third in the voting for the National League’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 2025 when he suffered back and hand injuries. He was shrouded in trade rumors before the 2025 season, and he used the no-trade clause in his contract to block a potential deal to the Astros. While his defense returned to its normal stellar levels, Arenado hit just 12 homers with a .666 OPS in 107 games.
The Diamondbacks are banking on the fact that Arenado can bounce back from that down year at the plate, during which he slashed .237/.289/.377.
Arenado is still owed $42 million over the next two seasons -- $27 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027, per SpoTrac.com. The final year of the contract was added on when he agreed to the trade from the Rockies to the Cardinals before the 2021 season.