The wires lit up almost simultaneously on the trade deadline: Lars Nootbaar is headed from the Cardinals to the Diamondbacks. Ken Rosenthal broke it first with Jorge Castillo, and within minutes Jon Heyman and Mark Feinsand had it locked in too. When three of the sport's top insiders confirm the same deal inside a few minutes of each other, you know it's real and it's happening fast.
Source confirms: Diamondbacks acquiring Lars Nootbaar from Cardinals. First: @jorgecastillo
For Arizona, this is about fixing a specific problem. GM Mike Hazen has talked about the Diamondbacks struggling against right-handed pitching this year, and their outfield has been beat up by injuries for months. Nootbaar, a lefty bat with experience at all three outfield spots, slots right into that need. He's not a superstar addition, but he's a useful, versatile piece at a position of weakness heading into a playoff push.
The Diamondbacks are acquiring Lars Nootbar from the Cardinals, per source. @jorgecastillo was on it.
Nootbaar's 2026 season has been a grind before it even really started. He had offseason surgery to fix a congenital deformity in both heels and didn't make his season debut until early June. Once he got going, though, he found his form again, hitting his way back to a respectable OBP and OPS after a rough 2025. He's controllable through 2027, so this isn't a two-month rental — Arizona is buying a year and a half of a player, not just a stretch run.
St. Louis, meanwhile, keeps chipping away at its roster. This is another Cardinals fan favorite shipped out as the front office continues to reshape the roster rather than push for a playoff spot this year. Reports had multiple teams sniffing around Nootbaar, including the Padres, who according to Jon Heyman were also trying to pry him — or Alec Burleson, or Justin Larnach — away from St. Louis to fill their own lefty need.
Padres trying to land Nootbar, Burleson or Larnach to fill lefty need
That competing interest matters context-wise: it wasn't like Arizona was the only team calling. St. Louis had options and picked the return it liked best, reportedly including a couple of minor league arms and a player to be named later. For a Cardinals fanbase that's watched a lot of familiar faces get moved out this summer, Nootbaar's exit stings a little more than most — he'd been a homegrown piece of the outfield picture for parts of six seasons.
Now it's on Nootbaar to go be that missing lefty bat for a Diamondbacks club trying to squeeze into the postseason mix. If he can stay healthy and keep hitting the way he has since June, this ends up looking like exactly the kind of low-key, high-value deadline pickup that decides close playoff races.