The St. Louis Cardinals are coming off another tense season that ended without a playoff berth.
For the most part, the 2025 squad didn’t have many standout performances. Over a full 162-game season, every team finds ways to scrape together wins, and the Cardinals managed that despite lacking a true offensive superstar. Even Sonny Gray had a down year by his usual high standards, and there’s been speculation that he could be traded to the Atlanta Braves.
Manager Oli Marmol deserves some credit for keeping the team competitive under those conditions. No player appeared in more than 135 games. Alec Burleson paced the club with a .290 batting average and an .801 OPS, while Brendan Donovan’s 2.7 WAR was the team’s best overall mark. Wilson Contreras led in home runs with 20. Those are respectable individual stats, but if those are your top contributors, success is hard to sustain.
Nolan Arenado, long known as one of baseball’s premier defenders since debuting with the Colorado Rockies in 2013, hasn’t replicated his early-career dominance since joining St. Louis. After being traded to the Cardinals in 2021—just a year after signing an eight-year contract with Colorado—Arenado remains under team control through 2028.
In 2025, however, he struggled, hitting just .237 with a .666 OPS. He tallied 12 home runs, 52 RBIs, a 1.3 WAR, and 48 runs scored in 107 games—marking only the second time in his career that he failed to reach 100 hits.
Why Cardinals Must Trade Nolan Arenado
Given the Cardinals’ current situation, moving on from Nolan Arenado this offseason might be the smartest move for the franchise’s long-term outlook. While the team can still compete with him in the lineup, their overall ceiling remains limited. The championship window isn’t open right now, and trading Arenado could allow St. Louis to clear payroll space while bringing in valuable talent for the future.
Before the season concluded, Arenado acknowledged that his future in St. Louis was uncertain and admitted he wasn’t sure if his final home game would be his last at Busch Stadium.
“I definitely come to the ballpark with it in mind – this could be the last time playing at home,” Arenado said. “I want to go out there and compete, have good at-bats, play solid defense, and give the fans something to remember.”
It appears unlikely that Arenado will finish out his contract with the Cardinals. Though he was mentioned in trade rumors before the MLB Trade Deadline, the team ultimately held onto him while dealing other key players such as Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz.
Several teams in need of a third baseman — including the Yankees, Angels, Diamondbacks, Astros, and Marlins — could be willing to take on the final two years of Arenado’s deal to solidify their infield defense. For the Cardinals, exploring such a trade could open the door to a roster overhaul heading into next season.
With a loaded 2025 free-agent class on the horizon, St. Louis could use the financial flexibility from an Arenado trade to reshape the team — either to reload for contention or to commit to a full rebuild.
At 34, Arenado remains a productive player, but his prime years are behind him. He can still be a valuable piece on a winning team, yet expecting him to lead the Cardinals back to contention seems unrealistic. It might simply be time for both sides to move on.
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