Before the Arizona Diamondbacks finalized a deal to acquire Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals, another team reportedly made a strong push to trade for the eight-time All-Star.
Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Athletics had a “deal in place” with the Cardinals that didn’t go through because Arenado “indicated” he wouldn’t waive his no-trade clause to approve the move.
Rosenthal added that the A’s were willing to take on more of Arenado’s remaining contract than Arizona will.
The Cardinals officially announced the Arenado trade on Jan. 13, with Arizona sending right-handed pitching prospect Jack Martinez to St. Louis. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand added the D-Backs will only take on $11 million of the $42 million still owed to Arenado.
There were multiple teams trying to land Arenado, with Rosenthal previously reporting that the San Diego Padres “mounted the heaviest pursuit” for the veteran third baseman.
San Diego planned to have Arenado play at first base with Manny Machado entrenched at third, but the deal never came together because the Padres didn’t want to take on as much of his remaining salary as Arizona agreed to.
After their offseason spending splurge last year by signing Luis Severino and trading for Jeffrey Springs, the A’s haven’t had many significant transactions to bring in outside talent. They did acquire Jeff McNeil from the New York Mets, who also sent $5.75 million back in the deal to cover part of his $17.8 million salary.
The Athletics did extend Tyler Soderstrom for seven years and $86 million in December, marking the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history.
Third base remains a position of need for the A’s going into 2026. Max Muncy, who hit .214/.259/.379 in 63 games as a rookie last season, is currently penciled in as the starter.
Arenado, who turns 35 on April 16, hit .237/.289/.377 with 12 homers in 107 games for the Cardinals in 2025.