If you ask most baseball fans, they would tell you the Los Angeles Dodgers are ruining the game by bringing in so much star talent. Los Angeles dominantly won the World Series in 2024 and proceeded to add Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, Blake Snell, and Roki Sasaki, among others, to their roster. Not to mention, Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the mound at some point.

If you ask front office executives, they won’t blame the Dodgers. Instead, they’ll blame the cheap owners of the smaller market teams who refuse to bring in expensive talent.

The Dodgers could make this narrative even worse by swinging a blockbuster trade during the late stages of the offseason. Let me set the stage for how this deal could come to fruition.

Los Angeles signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim out of international free agency and quickly traded Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds. Now, the Dodgers have optioned Kim to the minor leagues because he’s not ready to hit big league pitching.

This shocking Dodgers-Cardinals trade would finally send Nolan Arenado to Los Angeles

Who’s the best trade candidate available to replace Kim, at least for the time being? St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado.

The Dodgers are on a short list of teams which Arenado would reportedly waive his no-trade clause for. And the Cardinals will likely accept very minimal prospect capital in return for getting off Arenado’s contract. They could bring in an All-Star for relatively cheap while Kim develops in the minor leagues.

This deal is simple. The Cardinals would send Arenado and $25 million to help pay for his deal to the Dodgers in exchange for former top prospect Bobby Miller.

The Cardinals reportedly don’t want to pay more than $20 million of Arenado’s contract in a trade. But in exchange for Miller, this might change.

Miller, 25, is looking to bounce back from a horrific 2024 campaign, but there’s no path to starting with the Dodgers. When Ohtani returns, they’ll have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Snell, Ohtani, and Sasaki as their starting five. This doesn’t mention Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May, who are above Miller on the depth chart. Los Angeles also has a plethora of top pitching prospects who could develop.

St. Louis would be clearing more than half of Arenado’s money off its books. The team would also bring in a starting pitcher who has the ability to compete at a high level, just like he did in 2023. It seems like a no-brainer for the Cardinals.

The Dodgers would add an All-Star at third base in exchange for a pitching prospect who may never see a clear path to the starting rotation in Los Angeles. It seems like a no-brainer for the Dodgers, too.