ST. LOUIS – One of the biggest questions facing the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason is the future of big-name third baseman Nolan Arenado.
As the Cardinals look to shed salary and pivot toward a youth-driven reset, Arenado’s recent Instagram activity has only fueled speculation about whether he’ll remain with the Cardinals next season.
On Sunday, Arenado shared an Instagram post with several photos and videos that he captioned “Offseason photos.” The post alone isn’t necessarily cryptic, but it included a song clip of Kendrick Lamar’s tune “dodger blue.”
With the Los Angeles Dodgers very aggressive in acquiring star players over the last World Series and winning this year’s Fall Classic, in addition to Arenado growing up in California, it certainly caught the attention of viewers. The post includes comments like “Interesting song choice” and “The song has to mean something, right?”
After that, on Monday, Arenado shared a video clip to his Instagram story (which disappears after 24 hours as opposed to a post), in which a group is surrounding Arenado and one man seemingly approaches him to greet him.
Instagram user @stevemoran_05 says in a video post, “Met my hero the other day what an amazing guy!! @nolarenado Future Dodgers!?!?” with the wide-double eye emoji. Arenado shared the video post to his Instagram story and shared the remarks, “Thanks for being respectful with my family there brother.”
For those keeping count, that’s two posts in two days in which Arenado shared something on Instagram that appears to reference the Dodgers.
Also on Monday, Arenado also shared a post of videos that show him working on offseason fielding drills. This post didn’t specifically have any Dodgers references with a song or caption, though fellow Dodgers player Enrique Hernandez chimed in with a comment and said, “NO SONG FOR THE POST?!!”
With all of this in mind, where do things stand with Nolan Arenado right now?
According to a detailed Nov. 26 report from Katie Woo, Cardinals reporter for The Athletic, the Cardinals have engaged in preliminary trade talks on Nolan Arenado in recent weeks, though there isn’t any movement right now indicating a deal could be close. The Winter Meetings, during which MLB executives will meet next week in Dallas, could possibly help accelerate discussions.
Woo’s latest report also noted that Arenado has not personally requested a trade from St. Louis and that the Cardinals approached him about the possibility of exploring the trade market. If moved, Arenado reportedly could also be open to playing first base instead of third base over time.
Arenado is currently under contract through the 2027 season with the St. Louis Cardinals with $51 million owed over the next three years. The Cardinals also owe him a series of deferred $2 million and $3 million payments annually through 2041.
In any event that Arenado is moved, the Cardinals may still be paying a significant amount of his salary.
Another possible roadblock is that Arenado has a full no-trade clause, meaning if the Cardinals and another team were to reach a deal, he would ultimately have to final say in whether to waive the clause and join a new team.
The Cardinals, if willing to move forward on a trade with Arenado’s approval, are likely hopeful for some sort of deal in which a couple to a few young players join the organization and some amount of Arenado’s salary would be covered by his next team.
It’s unclear if the Cardinals and Dodgers are actively discussing a potential deal involving Arenado, despite his recent Instagram posts.
For the Dodgers, hypothetically, adding Arenado could be a logical move to bolster an already star-studded lineup fresh off a World Series title. If they’re willing to keep adding to a lucrative payroll, Arenado could be a strong fit to complement the roster. Los Angeles may also feel compelled to work with St. Louis after another Cardinal-turned-Dodger success story in Tommy Edman last season.
At this point of the offseason, however, it’s far from guaranteed the Cardinals will soon commit to a trade involving Arenado with the Dodgers or anyone else. That said, the Cardinals’ Winter Meetings approach and Arenado’s activity on Instagram are certainly worth monitoring over the next several weeks as the next chapter of the eight-time All-Star’s MLB future remains to be determined.
The New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners are also teams that could emerge in the sweepstakes for Arenado in the offseason, given each of their windows to compete, prospect pools, and hopes to improve production from the hot corner.