There remains the possibility that the Cardinals don’t trade Arenado. If the Cardinals were to eat $15-20M of his remaining contract, it would cost the Cardinals $5-7M/yr, that is, 1/3rd of the $15-20M that they would have to pay to unload him, plus add to that cost whatever they would have to pay their new third baseman. Keeping Arenado would cost the Cardinals the entire $74M that he is due over the next three years, which amounts to $24.6M/yr. Arenado’s presence on he field for the Cardinals might be worth at least half that in ticket revenue because of his reputation and prior success. In addition to that, Arenado could contribute to the Cardinals getting into the playoffs in the weak NL Central which would further increase revenue and, thereby, decrease the cost of keeping him even more. I guess what I’m saying is that, even though the Cardinals want to trade Arenado, they are not ‘over a barrel’ with this. They could just hang onto him, and it wouldn’t really cost them that much.
I pretty much disagree with all of this. The Cardinals are apparently over a barrell because BDW is wanting Mo to cut more payroll. Paying Arenado $20M over the next three years instead of $64M is a big deal if you are desperate to save some bucks.
Have to spend on a new 3B? I don’t think so. Gorman, Saggesse, or Donovan will be cheap.
I think too much has been said publicly for the Cardinals to retreat now. Arenado is going to be traded come ____ or high water.