ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis Cardinals pitchers and catchers officially reported to Spring Training in Jupiter, Florida on Wednesday, and as the club's first full team workout is five days away, a certain 10-time Gold Glover is still a member of the Cardinals.
The first full-team workouts for the Cardinals begins on Monday, Feb. 17, and the Cardinals still have not found a resolution to their months-long effort to trade Nolan Arenado.
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak discussed the latest on trading Arenado to reporters, including Sports Open Line host Matt Pauley, and again expressed frustrations at not being able to trade Arenado yet.
"If you think back to when we first started to discuss the possibility of trading Arenado, we thought all along we could probably do something this offseason," said Mozeliak. "But it just hasn't happened. I think you can determine on your own why that not might be happening."
"Obviously It hasn't moved at the pace many of us hoped for."
Mozeliak did say that there was a list of five teams that fit Arenado's wishes, though he did not name the teams. According to Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold, three of the teams are the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres.
Mozeliak says he does expect Arenado to report to Cardinals Spring Training in Jupiter, Florida on Sunday, Feb. 16 before the full-team workouts begin next Monday.
"Obviously the pink elephant in the room is, 'what are we going to do with Nolan Arenado?'" said Mozeliak. "Candidly, we're still looking at what that might look like. Could something happen in the next week? Could this go into camp? Possibly."
Mozeliak says despite the frustrations, he says there's no timeline for when an Arenado trade has to happen.
"We can create our own if we want, but I do feel as teams are beginning to report, it definitely feels like there's more urgency to see if there could be some way to bring this to a conclusion," said Mozeliak.
Mozeliak admits things might be 'awkward' if the Cardinals are unable to find a suitor for Arenado, but the team can still move forward if Arenado remains a member of the franchise.
"I still think he's a professional baseball player, he's currently a St. Louis Cardinal, and we all understand that once you're here, you're pushing forwards that," said Mozeliak. "Does it mean then trying to accomplish something during Spring Training? Possibly, but there's no gurantee."