The Cardinals have still gotten nowhere with their plan to “reset.” They could have traded some players and received some interesting young prospects in return. However, they still have not made a single move that impacts the Major League roster. You could say that John Mozeliak is going out in style.
However today, I want to focus more on something Mo doesn’t have much control over. This is not to defend him, but the issue of trading Nolan Arenado is an issue with the DeWitt’s.
Jon Morosi appeared on MLB Network Wednesday morning and reported that there still hasn’t been much traction in Arenado’s market. The Cardinals want to cut payroll and the best way to do that is to trade Arenado.
However, Morosi pointed something out that had nothing to do with the fact that Alex Bregman is still unsigned. He noted that teams are hesitant to take on a large portion of his salary, which is understandable. But the Cardinals are also unwilling to eat that much.
Back in December, they had a trade lined up with Houston in which they were only going to eat $5 million of the deal. The deal fell through when Arenado used his no-trade clause to block it.
But as far as finding a trade partner for Arenado, the Cardinals have been unsuccessful, and it’s their own fault. Yes, I understand that they don’t want to eat too much money and free up some payroll space, but they seem unwilling to throw in just a little more money to sweeten a potential deal.
This all falls on the DeWitt’s, who remain stubborn as ever when it comes to money. By choosing to stay in the same neighborhood as where they would have been had the Astros deal worked out, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. This may be the main reason why a deal hasn’t worked out, because the DeWitt’s, who are multi-billionaires by the way, are acting like they’re broke and using the same tired excuses as always.
Arenado is owed $64 million by the Cardinals from now through 2027. The Rockies are paying $10 million. Even if the Cardinals eat, say, $20 million, that frees up a lot of space in payroll. Whoever acquires Arenado would be eating $44 million, which is the vast majority of his contract. That should also leave room for them to make a few signings.
Then of course, we have the DeWitt’s being unwilling to spend any money on the roster. Sure, they spent quite a bit last offseason, but they haven’t budged this winter. And as much as I have issues with Mo, this part isn’t on him. Not trading other players is, but we’ll discuss that another time.
For the Cardinals to act like everything depends on Arenado being traded is quite frustrating, and it means the DeWitt’s are still spinning the same tired narrative about not being able to invest in the roster.
Even though they haven’t been able to trade Arenado, they still could be adding to the roster. Are we seriously supposed to believe that they can’t pay an affordable reliever or a right-handed bat $5 million? They could easily address the holes in the roster, even without an Arenado trade.
So, once again, this is all about the DeWitt’s being too fiscally conservative. I get that the Cardinals aren’t ever going to spend like the Dodgers do, but this approach by ownership to cry poor has gotten tiresome, and it’s time for them to stop being so cheap.