Suddenly, the St. Louis Cardinals are one of the better teams in the National League, going 7-2 over their last 10. Now 4.5 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs after splitting a four-game set with them that concluded on Thursday, the Cardinals are in a position to potentially hold first place in the division by the trade deadline.
That doesn’t mean that the Cardinals won’t sell a bit at the deadline if they have an opportunity to unload Nolan Arenado’s contract, however. Whether he wants to be traded, as he has a no-trade clause, remains to be seen, but anything is possible.
If the Cardinals move on from him, the hope would be to have a team take on his full contract and get a decent prospect in return. In a recent trade idea from the Athletics’ Jim Bowden, the Cardinals would surprisingly get one of the top prospects in baseball back in Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers for Arenado and Ryan Helsley.
“The only reason the Tigers would consider making this deal is if they felt Arenado would be a difference-maker at third base, both offensively and defensively,” Bowden wrote. “More importantly, they’d add Helsley, an impact closer to go along with high-leverage relievers Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle — a strong trio, especially in the playoffs.
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“The Cardinals have stuck in the wild-card race, but this would be a deal for the future. They would acquire McGonigle, an elite prospect who can flat-out hit and can play any infield position. The 20-year-old is clearly one of Detroit’s top-three prospects. The Cardinals could play McGonigle at second base or third base long term, wherever they feel he fits best.”
There wouldn’t be much sense for the Tigers to include McGonigle in a deal for Arenado, unless they truly believe that Arenado would be the perfect option at third base for them.
Even then, it feels safe to say that the Cardinals would have to pray Detroit would take this type of deal, as Helsley is set to hit free agency this winter.
