photo: Nolan Arenado (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals complete their unloading of big contracts with the trade of Nolan Arenado to Arizona. But is Chaim Bloom done dealing? Our history section highlights key events this past week in team annals.
Arenado dealt to Arizona
In an offseason in which trading their high dollar veteran contracts was a priority, the Cardinals achieved their end goal this past week by sending third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In return, the Cardinals received RHP Jack Martinez.
The trade, which includes the Cardinals paying $31 million of the $42 million remaining on Arenado’s contract, was announced on Tuesday, January 13.
Martinez, 22, is a native of Texas and played college baseball at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. He was the Diamondbacks eighth round pick in the 2025 draft. Martinez had not yet pitched in the Diamondbacks minor league system at the time of the trade.
Martinez will initially be assigned to the Cardinals rookie level FCL Cardinals but will likely pitch with the Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals sometime during the season.
The Cardinals made no secret of their intention to trade Arenado, along with veterans Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras. They succeeded in moving both Gray and Contreras in trades with the Boston Red Sox earlier in the offseason.
Arenado’s trade market looked to be stalled for most of the offseason leading up to the trade. POBO Chaim Bloom told an assembly of media after the trade was announced that there had been ongoing discussions with the Diamondbacks over the offseason, but the trade itself came together just in the last few days before the announcement.
This timing coincides with the news of the Cubs signing free agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Bloom did not connect the two events, but the possible association is hard to ignore.
With the trades of the three veterans now concluded, attention will be directed to the remaining trade possibilities, which include 2B/OF Brendan Donovan, and LHP JoJo Romero. There have been plenty of rumors of landing spots for both, but no trade appears imminent as of this writing.
Winter Warm-Up concludes
The Cardinals annual Winter Warm-Up took place over the weekend, with events at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village.
The event features autographs signing, Q&A sessions with players and team executives, and more.
Coverage of the event can be found at both TCN and the Cardinals website at mlb.com/cardinals.
Brian Walton was there and posted audio and written summaries of all media interviews that took place with players and Cardinals executives during the two-day event. They can be found here and here.
On Saturday, Chaim Bloom took questions which covered areas such as the status of manager Oli Marmol’s contract, health updates about Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar, how he thinks Artificial Intelligence will impact baseball and the Cardinals in particular, whether first round draft pick Liam Doyle will participate in big league spring training, and more.
The event concluded on Sunday and is typically seen as the first sign that spring training and the start of the baseball season are not far away.
News and Notes for the Offseason
This section contains information and snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but are of interest to Cardinal fans.
- The Cardinals announced the signing of 12 International amateurs on the first day of the opening of the international signing season, January 15 Information on these signings can be accessed at TCN here for members. Information is also available at MLB.com here.
- The Cardinals’ Single-A affiliate, the Palm Beach Cardinals, will have a name change for all 12 of their Saturday home games in 2026. They will be suited up as the “Frozen Iguanas” for those dozen contests. While other Cardinals’ affiliates have had temporary name changes in season, this will be the first time for Palm Beach.
- Cardinals all-inclusive tickets, Opening Day tickets, Cardinals Theme tickets, and single game tickets are now on sale. Information on purchasing any of these tickets and more can be found here. Spring Training tickets are also available to be purchased here.
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas popular entertainment baseball team will come to Busch Stadium on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 as part of their world tour.
More information about the event and how to get tickets can be found here.
The Big Picture
Nolan Arenado has been traded. It was the goal of the Cardinals to offload the three big veteran contracts on their roster to further their pursuit of rebuilding the team for the future. Two of the three, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, were traded earlier in the offseason to the Boston Red Sox. It appeared that trading Arenado was going to be a very different endeavor. His market appeared stalled with no movement on the horizon.
Then on Tuesday, January 13, word came that Arenado was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a right-handed pitcher, Jack Martinez, who was Arizona’s eighth round pick in the most recent draft. We also found out, as expected, that the Cardinals had to pay down most of the remaining money on Arenado’s contract to facilitate the trade. The Cardinals will be paying $31 million of the remaining $42 million on the contract.
The team paid money on the contracts of Gray and Contreras as well, though the amounts were less. Rebuilding doesn’t come cheap. With three veterans in their 30s with varied levels of talent and significant money attached to them, there was no expectation, or shouldn’t have been, that money would not be required to go out in a trade. At Winter Warm-Up, Bill DeWitt Jr. noted that one reason the dollars were so high was for the Cardinals to get good prospects in return.
The Cardinals have actively been shopping both Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero. It is not essential that either of these players be traded, but there has been extensive interest in both. A trade of both is expected to occur at some point this offseason or perhaps at the trade deadline.
There have been reports of interest in both Donovan and Romero by the Seattle Mariners. The Cardinals have been asking what other teams consider to be a steep price for Donovan, which has scared off a few suitors, such as the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners have been reported to be wary as well, but it is possible that a package for Donovan and Romero that is palatable to Seattle could be worked out.
The Giants are also aggressively pursuing Donovan and Nico Hoerner of the Cubs according to multiple sources. How aggressively is unknown. Hoerner has not, as of this writing, been reported to be officially on the market. The Cubs will do their due diligence and listen to offers, but Hoerner’s availability remains a question mark. If he is not available, that creates a much better situation for the Cardinals’ pursuit of a trade partner for Donovan.
Stay tuned for more happenings as the offseason continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
- After several months of a stalled trade market for Nolan Arenado, the dam broke this past week. The Cardinals completed a trade for the veteran third baseman to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cardinals received RHP Jack Martinez in return.
POBO Chaim Bloom told the media that talks with the Diamondbacks had been ongoing for some time but accelerated just a few days before the trade was announced. The timing coincides with the signing of free agent third baseman Alex Bregman by the Chicago Cubs.
- John Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Cardinals have interest in free agent RHP Griffin Canning. Canning pitched for the Mets in 2025, and prior to that spent five seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Canning threw 76 innings for the Mets in 2025 as a starter, then suffered a torn Achilles tendon in late June and was out for the remainder of the season.
- Despite some talk that the Mariners had cooled on Brendan Donovan due to the high asking price, it appears the interest has not waned. According to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat, the Cardinals have had ongoing discussions with the Mariners over Donovan and lefty reliever JoJo Romero. Perhaps a package deal is possible to help the Mariners get past their sticker shock on Donovan.
- Continuing on the Donovan theme, the Giants have been “aggressive” in their pursuit of a second baseman, says ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He specifically mentions Donovan and the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner. Rumors percolated about the availability of Hoerner after the Cubs signed Alex Bregman. The Cubs have not signaled that Hoerner is available, it has just been assumed that top prospect Matt Shaw would be moved to second base now that his former position is taken by Bregman. Hoerner has only one year of control left, which has fueled the talk that a trade may be on the horizon.
- During a fan session at the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up, Chaim Bloom was asked about the possibility of a right-handed hitting outfielder being on the radar for the Cardinals and whether former Cardinal Harrison Bader might be an option. Bloom acknowledged there is room for a righty outfielder on the roster and that Bader is a possibility. Bloom did not elaborate further.
Transactions
- 1/13 The Cardinals traded 3B Nolan Arenado and cash to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Jack Martinez.
- 1/13 The Cardinals signed free agent RHP Ryne Stanek. (This formalized a signing covered in detail last week.)
Injury Report
- POBO Chaim Bloom was asked at a media event at the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up on Saturday about the status of Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar. Bloom responded that Winn was finished with his rehab and is ready to go. On Sunday, Winn himself confirmed it.
- As for Nootbaar, Bloom said he is doing well, based on reports from Nootbaar himself, and medical staff, but that it is still very early. Bloom also said that though Nootbaar would say he is ready to go for Opening Day, there is no official timetable as far as the team is concerned.
Looking Ahead
The announcement of the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be made on January 21 at 5:00 p.m. CT. The only former Cardinal on the ballot is Carlos Beltran, who has the best chance of anyone to be elected.
February is Spring Training month. Pitchers and catchers report on February 11 with the first workout on February 12. Position players will report after February 12 and the first full squad workout will be Monday, February 16. The Cardinals play their first spring game at Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday, February 21 against the Washington Nationals.
The first full week of spring games will include a second game against the Nationals, and two games each with the Astros, Mets, and Marlins to conclude the month of February.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past continues with the series highlighting notable events that occurred in the history of the franchise for a relevant period. The offseason brings occasions such as awards, retirements, baseball transactions, and other interesting events.
In this installment, we look at events that occurred during the period January 12 through January 18. For each event, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
January 12, 1999 – The 70th home run ball hit by Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire is sold at an auction for $3 million, surpassing the previous record amount of $126,500 for a Babe Ruth home run ball.
January 14, 2008 – The Cardinals trade 3B Scott Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays for 3B Troy Glaus.
January 15, 1981 – Receiving 84% of the available votes cast, Cardinal pitcher Bob Gibson was elected the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
January 16, 1970 – Cardinal CF Curt Flood files a lawsuit challenging the legality of the major league reserve clause.
January 17, 2012 – The World Champion St. Louis Cardinals visit President Barack Obama at the White House. Obama referred to the team as “the greatest comeback team in the history of baseball”.
January 18, 1938 – Former Cardinal pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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