The St. Louis Cardinals finally ended the over-year-long Nolan Arenado trade saga on Tuesday, shipping their future Hall of Fame third baseman to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minimal salary relief and right-handed pitching prospect Jack Martinez.
Many questioned the Cardinals' ability to move Arenado in a trade this offseason due to his really poor 2025 season and the amount of money still owed to him, but in the aftermath of the trade, reports have surfaced that multiple teams were interested in acquiring Arenado before the Diamondbacks got a deal done with St. Louis.
One of those teams may come as a surprise to fans, and what may be even more surpising is just how cheap their front office got and why it prevented them from acquiring Arenado.