These St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly "off limits" in trade talks

While fans and media alike want to throw all kinds of Cardinals into trade rumors, these players are reportedly off limits.

May 15, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA;  St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28)
May 15, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals will be active at this trade deadline, there is no doubt about it.

Unfortunately for Yankees' Twitter (and other fanbases that have gotten their hopes up), this is not a full-scale rebuild for the Cardinals. And many of the names that national media or fans have thrown around are not going to be available in trade discussions at this deadline.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have already shut down inquiries from other teams about Lars Noobaar and Jordan Walker. They also have no intention of trading Nolan Arenado or Paul Goldschmidt, continuing to make stories like Jon Heyman's all the more irrelevant.

Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Lars Nootbaar, and Jordan Walker are the core that the Cardinals will for sure build around

This report has several implications. Obviously, it reinforces the notion that Goldschmidt and Arenado are not available and that Cardinals fans should pay no attention to those rumors. Second, though, it does start to indicate who the Cardinals may be willing to part with to make significant upgrades for 2024.

Nootbaar and Walker and specifically named as players who will not be dealt this year, but there is no mention of guys like Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, or Dylan Carlson. We are all well aware of the availability of Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Hicks, and Tyler O'Neill, but the availability of their young bats has always been speculative.

I don't think the Cardinals are actively shopping the likes of Gorman, Edman, Donovan, and Carlson, at least in terms of trying to find deals for them. I do believe this means they are pieces that may try to use in a deal for a starter, but there are no guarantees that kind of deal surfaces.

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Keep an eye on the Cardinals are the deadline nears. It'll be fascinating to see what kinds of deals they make and who are in them.

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