Diamondbacks land Nootbaar as Cardinals keep selling

The trade deadline chaos produced one of its cleaner storylines Monday night: the Diamondbacks are getting outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the Cardinals, a move that broke almost simultaneously across the industry's biggest names.

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Source confirms: Diamondbacks acquiring Lars Nootbaar from Cardinals. First: @jorgecastillo

Ken Rosenthal had it first through the grapevine, but it was Jorge Castillo who broke the news, and everyone from Jon Heyman to Mark Feinsand piled on to confirm it within minutes. That kind of instant multi-source lock is usually a sign the deal is basically done, not a rumor still cooking.

Mark Feinsand

@Feinsand

The Diamondbacks are acquiring Lars Nootbar from the Cardinals, per source. @jorgecastillo was on it.

Nootbaar's been a Cardinal his entire six-year career, but 2026 hasn't been kind to him. He needed offseason surgery to fix a congenital heel deformity and didn't even debut until June, and he's hitting.234 with 3 homers and 16 RBIs since. Still, he walks at a 13.1% clip and doesn't chase — the kind of on-base skill that plays anywhere, even in a down year.

St. Louis's return is reportedly a pair of minor league arms in Daniel Eagen and Sandro Santana plus a player to be named, which fits the theme of this Cardinals deadline: shed veterans, restock the farm, and let this season go. Nootbaar joining the shopping list alongside names like Burleson and Larnach — Jon Heyman had the Padres sniffing around some of the same lefty bats — tells you St. Louis was fielding calls on basically its whole outfield.

Jon Heyman

@JonHeyman

Padres trying to land Nootbar, Burleson or Larnach to fill lefty need

For Arizona, this isn't just a two-month rental play. Nootbaar's under club control through 2027, so the Diamondbacks are buying an outfield piece for both this stretch run and next season while they're at it. If the heels hold up and the bat rounds back into form, it's a low-cost bet with real upside for a team trying to squeeze into the wild-card picture.