By Rob Rains
It was almost exactly a year ago when John Mozeliak addressed a crowd at the Winter Warm-up and stressed that the Cardinals’ first, second and third priority was trading Nolan Arenado.
On Tuesday, it finally happened – more than three months after Chaim Bloom succeeded Mozeliak as the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations.
What Mozeliak could not accomplish Bloom did, although it took the Cardinals reportedly including $31 million to complete a deal sending Arenado to the Arizona Diamonbacks, which also required Arenado agreeing to waive his no-trade clause.
The Cardinals received a young right-handed pitcher, Jack Martinez, in the trade. Martinez was Arizona’s selection in the eighth round of last year’s amateur draft out of Arizona State.
“To us and to Nolan the situation really pointed to a fresh start,” Bloom said in a media zoom. “A fresh start for him and moving forward for us. … When you have a situation like this, where Nolan also is a party at the table, with full control over where he goes, you’re really just looking for the match first and foremost. At the same time my job is to represent the Cardinals and make sure the deal is something we feel is in our interest and we can justify.”
Bloom said he had been involved in occasional talks with the Diamondbacks since the end of last season, but that this deal developed quickly after free agent Alex Bregman signed with the Cubs on Saturday.
“We didn’t make any secret of that fact that we were looking for a match in a trade that was something that fit Nolan as well,” Bloom said. “This particular scenario picked up a lot of steam rather quickly in recent days.”
It was the third significant trade for Bloom since he took over running the Cardinals, following separate deals that sent Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Red Sox, as the team’s re-build with younger players shifted into high gear.
“You’re only doing something like this if you are in a position as an organization where you are not where you want to be,” Bloom said. “As an indicator of where we are, it’s a sobering thought in terms of the ground we need to cover and the distance from where we are to where we want to get. It’s motivating in that regard.”
It might not be the last trade of the off-season either as reports on Tuesday said the Cardinals and Giants were discussing a possible trade that would send Brendan Donovan to San Francisco.
A source described those talks as “real” with the Giants reportedly targeting either Donovan or the Cubs Nico Hoerner in a deal.
Moving Arenado will free up one spot on the infield for either Nolan Gorman or perhaps JJ Wetherholt, the organization’s top prospect, who played both second and third last season Memphis.
The trade also brings to an end what likely will be remembered as a disappointing era of Cardinals baseball after they acquired Arenado in a trade from Colorado shortly before the 2021 season.
The combination of Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt were expected to lead the Cardinals to postseason success, but that didn’t happen.
In Arenado’s five years with the Cardinals, the first four with Goldschmidt as his teammate, the Cardinals only played in three postseason games, losing all three. They lost a wild-card game to the Dodgers in 2021 and went 0-2 against the Phillies in the wild-card round in 2022. In those three games Arenado went a combined 1-of-12.
After three outstanding seasons, including finishing third in the MVP voting in 2022, the last two years were tough for Arenado. He was limited to just 107 games because of injuries last season, hitting 12 home runs.
Mozeliak and the Cardinals thought they had a deal in place in December 2024 to trade Arenado to the Houston Astros, but he exercised his no-trade clause and vetoed the deal.
When Bloom took over as the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations following the 2025 season, he said his goal was to find a team that offered a better “fit” for Arenado at this stage of the veteran’s career. A 10-time Gold Glove winner and an eight-time All-Star, Arenado is a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“We are going to be a younger team this year,” Bloom said. “I think that’s a good thing given where we are.”
Arenado, at 34, has two years remaining on his contract and is owed about $42 million. The Cardinals are reportedly covering all but $11 million of the contract.
In the three trades involving Gray, Contreras and Arenado, the Cardinals have had to include $59 million in the deals, although some of the money they will be including in the Arenado deal will be deferred, according to reports out of Arizona.
Bloom also confirmed the signing of free agent reliever Ryne Stanek to a one-year contract with an option for 2027.
The prospect coming to the Cardinals, the 22-year-old Martinez, did not pitch in pro ball last season. In 77 innings for Arizona State he recorded 110 strikeouts. He likely will begin this season in low Class A Palm Beach.
The Cardinals have been stockpiling young arms in their three trades this winter.
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Photo by the Associated Press
To hear Chaim Bloom’s press conference, click the audio player below
