Compared to where Nolan Arenado and the St. Louis Cardinals were in the offseason, not a ton has changed. St. Louis is still in rebuild mode, Arenado is still making a ton of money and both teams can still benefit from parting ways.

Of course, if it was that easy, the Cardinals would have traded Arenado months ago. Because it's never too early to start looking ahead to the 2025 trade deadline, ESPN.com did exactly that, and summed up where the team and eight-time All-Star stand. It essentially broke down to one point:

“If the Cardinals pay down some of the contract, they could probably find Arenado a new home,” ESPN's David Schoenfield wrote.

Schoenfield also laid out the financial aspect amid Arenado's hot start (.288 BA, 140 OPS+).

“Will some team want him now? He's making $32 million this year, $27 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027, which complicates things,” he continued. “He's off to an excellent start — with more walks than strikeouts while hitting for average — so that could create some interest, and there are certainly teams that could use an upgrade at third base.”

Assessing the trade partners for Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals

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With the deadline still months away, it's impossible to know every team that might want Arenado's services. But Schoenfield had some ideas, and they're not tough to figure out.

One of them is the Cardinals' NL Central rivals, the Chicago Cubs. With rookie Matt Shaw struggling to find his footing (and now back in the minor leagues), Chicago needs someone to man the hot corner.

If St. Louis isn't able to find a suitable return to trade him within the division, the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays would all make sense.

The Phillies have their own third base trade candidate in Alec Bohm, who is off to a rough start. The 2024 NL All-Star is hitting .193 without a home run through 21 games. As for the defending AL champions, the Yankees have just one homer from their third basemen, and their AL East rivals, the Blue Jays, haven't gotten much more at the spot.

The question may be whether all those teams are contending by the time July rolls around.