The MLB Winter Meetings this week seemed to be eerily quiet for the St. Louis Cardinals. New reports seem to indicate that there was a lot of activity happening behind the scenes as there’s new interest in both Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar and questions answered about what would it be like if Nolan Arenado remained a St. Louis Cardinal.
Will Sammon of The Athletic is reporting that the New York Mets have reached out to the St. Louis Cardinals about both Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar. John Denton of MLB.com also heard about talk between the Mets and Cardinals about Contreras. These rumors picked up extra momentum today when it was revealed that Pete Alonzo signed a 5-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. So many questions come to mind including whether or not Willson Contreras would waive his no-trade clause for a trip to New York.
The other interesting twist this week involved comments made by Cardinals manager Oli Marmol on the MLB Network about what would happen if Nolan Arenado were to return to the team for another season. The exact question asked in regards to having Nolan saluting the crowd like it was goodbye was “Would it be overly awkward if he returned as your everyday third baseman?” Marmol said “No, not awkward at all to be quite honest with you…the reality is if this goes down the way we think it will and we do move him…I wanted the fans to be able to appreciate that moment with Nolan…if it happens that he’s back, I’d love it”. I’d recommend you check out the full nearly 8-minute interview that Oli had during the MLB Network appearance, but I definitely got a sense that he believes Nolan will be traded this offseason.
In other news this week from around the league, MLB Trade Rumors reporting today that Lane Thomas will sign a 1-year deal with the Kansas City Royals.
John Heyman of the New York Post reported that before agreeing to a 5-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles that Pete Alonzo met with both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting that the San Diego Padres will not listen to offers for Fernando Tatis Jr. They referred to him as untouchable.
MLB Trade Rumor says the Chicago Cubs signed left-hander Hoby Milner to a 1-year deal for $3.75 million plus incentives.
ESPN reporting that the Atlanta Braves have signed former San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez to a 3-year $45 million dollar contract.
