The St. Louis Cardinals’ rebuilding plan includes the potential trade of star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

“(Arenado remaining a Cardinal) is a possibility, but I’m not sure it gets us where we want to be,” team president John Mozeliak said Monday at the MLB winter meetings in Dallas. “From a financial standpoint, there are certainly other options when trying to shift our payroll, but (the Arenado deal) would be a big help. It’s financial, but it also creates an opportunity for someone else.”

He added: “We never take these decisions lightly. (Arenado) doesn’t demand a trade. He’s not telling me I have to, but I think in the best interest of both parties I’d like to try to find him somewhere to land.

Arenado, 33, has a contract worth $32 million in 2025, $27 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027. He has a full no-trade clause, which he waived when he was traded from the Colorado Rockies to the Cardinals on February 1, 2021, but received significant financial incentives in return.

“(The no-trade clause) is a complicated task, but again we have had an open dialogue and we understand where this could end,” Mozeliak said.

Arenado is coming off the first of his 12 major league seasons in which he didn’t make the National League All-Star team, win a Gold Glove or both. He is an eight-time All-Star and ten-time Gold Glove winner.

In 2024, Arenado hit .272 with a .325 on-base percentage, .394 slugging percentage, 16 home runs and 71 RBIs in 152 games. The home run and RBI totals were his worst in 10 years, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Cardinals are coming off an 83-79 season in which they tied for second place in the NL Central but failed to make the playoffs.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.