Morning Rundown: Cardinals turn down trade for Arenado, Yankees sign Goldschmidt, Trevino traded to Reds
More NL Central news includes a trade between the Cardinals and Yankees
According to a report on MLB.com, the St. Louis Cardinals turned down a trade that would have sent third baseman Nolan Arenado to the New York Yankees in exchange for Marcus Stroman.
The Cardinals have been shopping Arenado, and he is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause for the right situation. He allegedly refused to waive it to go to the Astros, and now it seems the team also turned down a new potential landing spot in the Yankees.
Stroman, 33, went 10-9 this past season with the Yankees, posting a 4.31 ERA over 154.2 innings pitched.
After Christian Walker signed with the Houston Astros, the Yankees grabbed a different free-agent first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, and signed him to a one-year deal.
Goldschmidt, 37, hit .245/.302/.414 with 22 home runs last year with the Cardinals. He had spent six years with St. Louis after coming over in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cincinnati Reds made a trade with the Yankees, acquiring catcher Jose Trevino in exchange for right-handed pitcher Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.
Trevino is widely considered one of the better defensive catchers in the league. He isn’t the best hitter, but he hit eight home runs in less than half a season’s worth of games. Cruz had a 4.89 ERA last year with the Reds but struck out 109 batters in 66.2 innings pitched.
Jackson has played for six teams in his major league career, most recently in 2024 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
After Christian Walker left for the Houston Astros in free agency, the Diamondbacks made a trade to replace him at first base.
They sent right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi and their Competitive Balance Round B pick to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for Josh Naylor. He hit .243/.320/.456 with 31 home runs and 108 RBI in 2024 and has a combined 5 fWAR the past year seasons.
Cecconi was the 33rd overall pick in 2020 out of Miami and posted a 6.66 ERA in 77 innings pitched, making 13 starts out of his 20 games played.
The Guardians also signed first baseman Carlos Santana to a one-year contract worth $12 million. Cleveland was the team he broke into the league with back in 2010. He last played for them in 2020.
Santana, 38, hit .238/.328/.420 with 23 home runs and 71 RBI while posting a +8 DRS at first base with the Minnesota Twins in 2024.
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Wow, Santana gets $12m, good for him!
Interesting thoughts on the Guardians flawlessly executing their plan. Is the Pirates’ plan to do nothing or do they not have a plan at all?