Diamondbacks land Nolan Arenado with $31 million sweetener as Cardinals pivot to reset

Nolan Arenado tugged a Sedona red jersey over his shoulders this week and trotted out to third base at Chase Field, the 10 Gold Gloves on his résumé now belonging to a new team. On the videoboard behind him, his name flashed in Arizona Diamondbacks colors. Somewhere in the fine print of the transaction that brought him there: $31 million from his former club to help make it happen.

A rare trade: star player, prospect return — and cash attached

On Jan. 13, the Diamondbacks acquired Arenado, an eight-time All-Star and one of the most decorated defensive third basemen in major league history, from the St. Louis Cardinals. In return, Arizona sent right-hander Jack Martinez, a 22-year-old pitching prospect, to St. Louis.

The move came with a striking financial twist. Arenado is owed $42 million over the next two seasons — $27 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027 — on a long-term contract originally signed with the Colorado Rockies. Under the terms of the deal, the Cardinals agreed to send $31 million to Arizona to help cover that obligation. With prior money from Colorado also still in play, industry evaluations have framed the trade as Arizona effectively getting two years of Arenado for about $11 million.

For St. Louis, the trade marks the end of a high-profile era and the clearest sign yet that the franchise is shifting into a reset after three straight seasons out of the postseason and a steep drop in attendance. For Arizona, it is a calculated, low-cost bet that a declining but still elite defender can stabilize a problem position and add leadership to a roster trying to climb back into contention in a deep National League West.

“We’ve always liked the way he’s played the game and the impact he can have when he’s not playing,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “We look for him to be a solid offensive contributor in our lineup. With the firepower we have at the top of our lineup, we’re not looking for him to carry the offense. We need him to solidify and stabilize our defense — that’s a huge component to this.”

What Arizona is buying: elite defense, discounted risk

Arenado, 34, arrives in Arizona with a résumé that has drawn regular Hall of Fame discussion. Over 13 seasons with the Rockies and Cardinals, he has hit .282 with 353 home runs and 1,184 RBIs. He has been selected to eight All-Star Games, won 10 Gold Gloves and six Platinum Gloves, and is one of a small handful of players in major league history to combine 350 or more home runs with at least 10 Gold Gloves.

His performance has trended downward, particularly at the plate. In 2025, Arenado hit .237 with 12 home runs and a .289 on-base percentage in 107 games for the Cardinals, missing time with a shoulder injury. Metrics that adjust for ballparks and league conditions rated him a below-average hitter last season after several years closer to league average. Even so, defensive metrics and team officials around the league still view him as a plus defender at third base.

That is exactly what Arizona believes it is buying — at what amounts to a heavily discounted rate.

The Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023, lost a wild-card tiebreaker in 2024 and then slipped to 80–82 in 2025, finishing fourth in the NL West. Their offense remained in the upper third of the league, led by outfielder Corbin Carroll and infielder Ketel Marte, but injuries thinned the pitching staff, and third base became a revolving door after the mid-2025 trade of Eugenio Suárez.

With ownership signaling a desire to keep payroll in check, Arizona was not expected to pursue top-of-market free agents at third base. The Arenado deal gives the club a short-term solution at a position of need without adding long-term money beyond 2027.

“It’s close to home for me,” said Arenado, who grew up in Orange County, California. “I’m from Orange County, so it’s easy. I got family in Arizona, and I really like this team. They’re a good team, they play hard and they’re young. But I feel like I could really help this team win ballgames and contribute, and obviously being around good, young, hungry players, I think it just helps me stay young.”

Arenado had to approve the move. He holds a full no-trade clause in his contract and exercised it last year to block a proposed trade to the Houston Astros, citing family considerations and uncertainty about Houston’s roster turnover. This time, he waived it quickly to join the Diamondbacks.

Why St. Louis did it: payroll relief and playing time for youth

In St. Louis, the trade is part of a broader organizational pivot.

The Cardinals finished 78–84 last season, their third consecutive losing year. That stretch followed nearly two decades in which they were regular postseason participants and one of the National League’s most consistent contenders. Attendance at Busch Stadium fell by more than 600,000 from the prior season, one of the largest declines in baseball.

Late last year, the Cardinals elevated former Boston Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom to president of baseball operations, tasking him with steering a franchise that has struggled to replace aging stars and has been reluctant to fully embrace a rebuild. This winter, St. Louis traded veteran starter Sonny Gray and catcher Willson Contreras to Boston while sending millions of dollars in cash commitments alongside them. The Arenado deal is the third such veteran-plus-cash move.

“We are grateful for Nolan’s five years as a Cardinal, on and off the field — for his drive, his competitiveness, and for all of the memories he gave us,” Bloom said in a statement announcing the trade.

Bloom called Martinez “another intriguing pitching prospect” and said the move would create “opportunity for a number of our players to step up and further establish themselves at the big league level.” He acknowledged to reporters that it “wasn’t fun” to trade a player he believes will eventually be voted into the Hall of Fame. But the front office has signaled that clearing payroll commitments and opening playing time for younger, cheaper players is now a priority as the club looks beyond 2026.

The prospect: Jack Martinez

In Martinez, the Cardinals get a tall right-hander with some strikeout upside. The Diamondbacks drafted him in the eighth round last July out of Arizona State. Martinez, listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, struck out 110 batters in 77 1/3 innings in his final college season but also posted a 5.94 ERA. He has yet to pitch in an official minor league game, leaving his professional projection largely to internal scouting and amateur evaluations.

What comes next

For Arenado, the trade is a second relocation tied closely to economics. In 2021, the Rockies sent him to the Cardinals and agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to help cover his deal. Now, the Cardinals are doing something similar, effectively paying for the final portion of the contract to play out somewhere else.

The Diamondbacks say they are aware of the risks that come with relying on a mid-30s corner infielder whose production has dipped. Hazen has not ruled out Arenado seeing some time at first base, depending on how the roster evolves, but said the team still views him as a third baseman and an everyday player.

In a division where the Los Angeles Dodgers have added star talent through free agency and trades and enter 2026 as heavy betting favorites, Arizona’s move is less about matching star power than about raising its floor. Public betting odds barely moved after the trade, reflecting modest expectations for how much one aging player can change a team’s outlook.

Inside Chase Field, though, the Diamondbacks believe the combination of defense, experience and cost makes sense for where they are.

“I know how much winning means to him and is important to him — and it’s important to us,” Hazen said. “We think he fits what we’re trying to do.”

In St. Louis, the departure of the franchise’s marquee third baseman underscores how quickly the landscape has shifted. The Cardinals once built around Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado as the centerpiece of their lineup and identity. Now they will pay a significant portion of Arenado’s remaining salary to watch him play somewhere else, betting that short-term pain will clear a path to a younger, more flexible core.

On opening day, Arenado will bend into his familiar crouch along the third-base line, this time against a backdrop of desert air and a different shade of red. For the Diamondbacks, it is a relatively inexpensive chance that his glove and presence still have impact. For the Cardinals, it is a costly acknowledgment that an era has ended and that the next one will be built without the player who once defined their infield.