4 trade heists by the Cardinals in the last 10 years

4. St. Louis Cardinals get 3B Nolan Arenado and $51 million for LHP Austin Gomber, INF Mateo Gil, INF Elehuris Montero, RHP Tony Lacey, and RHP Jake Sommers

This trade appeared to be a fleecing from the start, and that belief has become fact three years later. The Cardinals got themselves an All-Star third baseman for spare parts, most of whom never saw a major league inning. In addition to getting one of the best players in baseball, John Mozeliak somehow also convinced the Rockies to pay for a sizeable chunk of Nolan Arenado's contract. This may be one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history.

Since coming to the Cardinals in 2021, Nolan Arenado has accumulated 13.8 fWAR. He's been to 3 All-Star games, he placed third in MVP voting in 2022, he's received two Gold Glove Awards, and he won the Silver Slugger Award in 2022. Arenado has been nothing short of spectacular in St. Louis.

Of the players who were sent to Colorado, only Austin Gomber and Elehuris Montero have played in the majors. Montero has been worth -0.7 fWAR in two MLB stints, and Gomber has had more modest success with 3.1 fWAR in three seasons with Colorado. Montero (#5 in 2019), Tony Locey (#19) Mateo Gil (#21 in 2020) were all once top-30 organizational prospects, but not one cracked national prospect lists.

The Cardinals were able to keep prized prospects, get a future Hall of Famer, and get the Rockies to pay for part of Arenado's remaining salary. This trade is severely lopsided for the Cardinals, and John Mozeliak did a great job with this trade.