The Cardinals have reached the eleventh hour with Nolan Arenado

The emergency lights should be flashing for the St. Louis Cardinals, who are careening toward disaster with Nolan Arenado. The Boston Red Sox are widely viewed as presenting the last chance for the Cardinals to deal the 10-time Gold Glove Award winner before the beginning of the 2025 season, but the Cardinals' reluctance to trade him unless they can have their cake and eat it too could result in extensive ramifications for the franchise.

The Cardinals have been adamant about unloading a substantial amount of the $74 million that Arenado is owed over the next three seasons, which has scared at least one potential suitor away: According to Katie Woo's article in The Athletic (subscription required), the New York Yankees asked about Arenado but were not happy with the cost that they would have had to shoulder.

The Cardinals are being foolish in their insistence to save money in an Arenado deal. There will be no better time to trade Arenado than in this offseason; as the 33-year-old's skills continue to regress, the Cardinals would have even more trouble when trying to find a suitor for him in future years.

If Arenado remains in St. Louis for 2025, his presence will create a slippery slope for the younger players in what was supposed to be a year where they would sink or swim. Arenado's 500-plus plate appearances would reduce opportunities for Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson and Thomas Saggese, preventing the Cardinals from having a clear picture of what kinds of players they could become.

In addition, holding on to Arenado and his contract would muddy the waters for Chaim Bloom, the incoming president of baseball operations, making it harder for him to pivot the Cardinals in a new direction. The Cardinals may not want to take on most of Arenado's remaining contract, but it's better than swallowing all of it and further limiting what actions Bloom can take in 2026 and beyond.

With time running out to move Arenado, the Cardinals may have no choice but to sweeten the pot by adding Ryan Helsley or Erick Fedde to a deal with Arenado, which would cause Helsley's or Fedde's value to plummet when attached to Arenado's hefty contract. It's a worst-case scenario, but the Cardinals have backed themselves into a corner where it could be the only option.

The Cardinals' goal for a 2025 youth movement will be a colossal failure if they are unable to trade Arenado, and their hard-headed refusal to take on the majority of his contract could force him to remain in St. Louis, stalling the young players' development and spelling a bitter end to John Mozeliak's regime.