Padres give Dodgers fans another reason to laugh at them after whiffing on easy trade

On Tuesday, the Cardinals finally put an end to their drawn-out search for a trade partner that would take Nolan Arenado. He went to the Diamondbacks for a pitching prospect ... and that's it. St. Louis will be eating the vast majority of the money left on his contract — $31 million out of $42 million remaining.

That's a great deal for the Diamondbacks, who will only pay an eight-time All-Star $5 million in 2026 and $6 million in 2027. Of course, there's every chance that Arenado's offensive decline continues in Arizona, but at least they'll be getting one of the best gloves in the league at third base, and for a huge bargain.

Arenado desperately wanted to come to the Dodgers (his hometown team) last offseason, when the Cardinals didn't hesitate to make their intentions to trade him known, but LA was never interested.

But according to Ken Rosenthal, yet another NL West team was involved. The Padres, along with the Diamondbacks, "mounted the heaviest pursuit" and intended to play Arenado at first. The problem, according to Rosenthal, was that they weren't willing to take on as much monetary responsibility for the rest of Arenado's contract.

They weren't willing to take on ... $11 million? Over two seasons? Really?

Padres missed out on Nolan Arenado because they were unwilling to pay him $11 million

Re-signing Michael King was a win for San Diego, but they've only added three new pieces this offseason: KBO infielder Sung-Mun Song on a four-year deal, and two relief pitchers.

The Dodgers haven't done much either, but it's LA and not San Diego who has the financial ability to just lie in wait for Kyle Tucker, and can shrug it off and move along if he ends up on the Blue Jays or Mets.

The Dodgers are the ones who signed Edwin Díaz to a deal with a $23 million AAV. The Padres are pinching pennies and think $11 million is beyond the pale.

The Diamondbacks' threat level didn't really go up by getting Arenado, but at least they were willing to take a chance. The Giants are also lurking on second basemen Nico Hoerner and Brendan Donovan and have plenty of flexibility to make a big move. Even the Rockies are trying something new.

The Padres' ownership situation is still tenuous, they haven't spent much money and clearly don't have much money to spend, and they gutted their farm system last year to trade for a closer. San Diego still has a threatening lineup that's gotten its team to the postseason in four out of their last six seasons, but it's news like this that makes it impossible to actually take the Padres seriously.