Nolan Arenado trade rumors dominated the St. Louis Cardinals' offseason following a 2024 campaign that saw the team struggle. After Arenado wasn't traded during the offseason, the expectation was that he would end up getting moved before the trade deadline in July, as the Cardinals were expected to endure another challenging campaign. As of this story's writing, however, the Cardinals are 45-38 and only 3.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central division. Former MLB reliever Jensen Lewis recently addressed the team's unforeseen success during an appearance on MLB Network Radio.

“It is remarkable, too, on the Cardinals side… There are things we expected this year, there are things that were not,” Lewis said. “I don't know how many of us expected the Cardinals to be in this spot from a record standpoint and a playoff, positional standpoint. I think Sonny Gray was a person we identified at the beginning of the year, ‘okay, if they're gonna sell, Sonny G, Arenado, Ryan Helsley, those would be your big ticket items that would look pretty good for contending clubs.'

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“And at this point, if you're a Cardinal fan, you're like, ‘well, not only are we not selling, but we're right in the fight here. Not only for the National League Central but also for playoff positioning in the Wild Card race.'”

As Lewis mentioned, the Cardinals are also in the National League Wild Card race in addition to the division conversation. St. Louis will enter their game on Saturday afternoon against the Cleveland Guardians sitting only a half-game out of an NL Wild Card spot. The New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants currently hold the three available Wild Card positions in the NL.

Barring a devastating collapse over the next few weeks, the Cardinals will likely pursue buying instead of selling given their standings placement.