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The Cardinals are days away from a potentially awkward situation at the ballclub’s spring training facility in Jupiter, Fla.
One that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak addressed Wednesday with reporters as the deadline for players to report by Sunday loomed, as did the prospects of an unhappy Nolan Arenado.
The Cardinals have been openly trying to trade the star third baseman to no avail, in part because of the full no-trade clause he has in his contract and Arenado’s desire to end up with one of five specific teams.
Mozeliak described the situation, according to MLB.com, as an “oddity” and said the organization is opening spring training, traditionally a time for hope and optimism, with “this over our heads.”
“Could something happen in the next week? Possibly. Could this go into camp? Possibly,” Mozeliak said. “So, I don’t have a definitive answer. Patience is required.”
Arenado is expected to report to the team’s facility on Sunday if a trade doesn’t materialize by then and could be on the field the next day for the Cardinals’ first full-squad workout.
Mozeliak did acknowledge that he had yet to speak with anyone from the star infielder’s camp in several weeks and anticipated some awkwardness if he does arrive.
But he added that Arenado is still a pro and understands the expectations.
“I still think he’s a professional baseball player and he’s currently a St. Louis Cardinal, and we all understand once you are here, you’re pushing forward,” Mozeliak said. “Would that mean trying to accomplish something during spring training? Possibly, but there are no guarantees at that point.”
MLB.com’s John Denton reported in December that Arenado had six teams on his trade wish list, which included the Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Phillies, Mets or Red Sox.
On Wednesday, he reported that Mozeliak had been limited to trying to trade with the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Padres and Angels.
The Red Sox likely came off the board Wednesday night after Boston agreed to a deal with Alex Bregman.
“If you think back to when we started discussing the possibility of trading him, we thought all along that we could probably do something this offseason, but it just hasn’t happened,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, I did not have a large list of teams, and it wasn’t like there were 29 teams I could take him to, so I’m trying to navigate what I could work with. Obviously, it hasn’t moved at the pace many of us had hoped for.”
In December, the Cardinals did have a deal in place with the Astros for Arenado, but the third baseman nixed the deal.
Time is ticking for anything to get done before things really get going during spring training.
