Speculation surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals intensified Tuesday as clarity began to emerge following the Nolan Arenado trade, sharpening focus on the organization\u2019s long-term direction. With the rebuild now firmly underway, new insight into roster plans has helped define expectations for the months ahead.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals officially sent Arenado<\/a> to the Arizona Diamondbacks, receiving right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez while absorbing a significant portion of the remaining contract. The move closed a major chapter for the franchise and opened broader discussion about how aggressively St. Louis intends to reshape its roster moving forward.<\/p>\n MLB Network shared a segment on X (formerly known as Twitter) featuring analysis from The Athletic\u2019s Katie Woo, who addressed what comes next for<\/a> the Cardinals in the wake of the blockbuster deal. Her appearance focused on upcoming personnel decisions and how the front office is approaching the next phase of the rebuild.<\/p>\n What's next for the Cardinals after trading Nolan Arenado?@katiejwoo<\/a> joins #MLBTonight<\/a> with potential plans for third base and the latest on the market for Brendan Donovan. pic.twitter.com\/WJWuu2BYlj<\/a><\/p>\n — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Woo provided an update on growing Brendan Donovan trade rumors, noting that league-wide interest continues to take shape.<\/p>\n \u201cDonovan has real interest. He has been connected to the Mariners and Giants, even the Red Sox. That would be the third time.\u201d<\/p>\n She explained that unlike recent transactions designed primarily to shed payroll, a potential Donovan deal would be driven by prospect value rather than financial relief.<\/p>\n \u201cBrendan Donovan represents their best chance to get as much of a return as possible in terms of prospect value. The primary purpose of previous trades was to offload significant veteran money\u2014that\u2019s not the case here.\u201d<\/p>\n Attention then turned to the Cardinals\u2019 outlook at third base, where internal options could soon receive extended opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the Cardinals are rebuilding. We know they want the youth. J.J. Wetherholt fits that narrative pretty well. I wonder if we could see him get a legitimate chance to crack the Opening Day roster now that third base seems to be an open competition.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments reinforce a clear organizational pivot. With Arenado gone, St. Louis appears prepared<\/a> to accelerate youth development, evaluate internal talent, and leverage remaining trade assets as the rebuild enters its next phase.<\/p>\n The post Cardinals rumors: Insider provides update on St. Louis’ outlook after Nolan Arenado trade<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speculation surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals intensified Tuesday as clarity began to emerge following the Nolan Arenado trade, sharpening focus on the organization\u2019s long-term direction. With the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automotiveglobe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n