The Cardinals are reportedly balking at the financial cost of offloading third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Red Sox -- if in fact, a potential trade is actually on the table, and in the final stages of completion. Jeff Passan (ESPN) reports that Cardinals are balking at the financials.

"Moving Arenado could force St. Louis to eat upward of half the money he is owed. Short of that, Boston's interest is iffy."

If there's a trade to be made here, then why would the Cardinals refuse to pay half of the $64 million owed to Arenado? That's $32 million ... which means the Cards would still come out $32 million ahead. So what's the problem here? At the Cardinals annual Winter Warm-Up, president of baseball ops John Mozeliak described trading Arenado as the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 priorities. OK, so where is the urgency? This fits an offseason of contradictions ... no roster upgrades, of course ... but lots and lots of contradictions as the Cardinals swerve from one direction to another.

Their reset is no reset .... because they're trying to win in 2025 and believe they'll be good ... so that really doesn't make it a reset. They're bringing back most of the talent they had in house last season. But the Cardinals keep going back and forth, colliding with their own words and stated goals. They've built a House of Mirrors, and the sad thing is, they have no idea how to get out of it ... even though they created it ... and so they keep running into the walls of mirrors. Good grief.