St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado reported to spring training on Sunday, showing up to play for a team that spent much of the offseason trying to trade him.

The eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner is owed $74 million for the next three seasons.

Colorado will pay St. Louis $5 million this year, the final installment of the $51 million the Rockies agreed to pay to offset the $199 million remaining in a nine-year contract worth $275 million to finalize a trade four years ago.

The Cardinals could not move him and his contract, which gives Arenado a full no-trade provision.

“I’m not going to talk about who the teams were because it doesn’t really matter anymore, but so, yeah, there was about five teams, five or so,” Arenado said. “I got a family now and to be willing to pick up my family and move them, it has to be something that is worth it.

“So, that’s kind of why the list was fairly small, and I don’t see myself really changing that list ever.”

Arenado is coming off a season that was not up to his standards, hitting .272 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Wednesday that “the pink elephant” in the room was what the team was going to do with Arenado, and he expected there to be a moment of awkwardness when he arrived for spring training.

Four days later, Arenado showed up a day before position players were due to report.

“We went into this offseason knowing that we were going to try to explore trades, which we did,” Mozeliak said. “We didn’t get to the point where he was no longer a Cardinal, so he’s certainly welcome back.

“Simply put, with Nolan on our team, we feel we’re a better team.”

The 33-year-old Arenado has hit .285 over his career with 341 home runs and 1,132 RBIs with the Cardinals and Rockies. His most recent season as an All-Star was 2023.

“I’m excited to get to work,” he said. “I’m a ballplayer and I’m really focusing on getting ready for the season.”

Arenado, though, did acknowledge that he wished the Cardinals were committed to contending instead of rebuilding to set the franchise up for success in 2026 and beyond.

St. Louis has not signed any free agents to major league contracts after missing the playoffs for the second straight season following a four-year run of postseason appearances. Four-time Gold Glove first baseman Paul Goldschmidt left as a free agent to sign with the New York Yankees.

“Do I wish the direction was all in? Of course,” he said. “But is this what’s probably best for the Cardinals? Probably.”

Bregman joins team and looks to get Red Sox back on track

Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.

“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club’s former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.

“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”

A day after Bregman’s $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he was handed the infielder was handed his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.

Breslow and Cora wouldn’t say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia’s position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.

A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.

Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.

Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”

Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.

“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.

MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player’s grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams’ deal to become manager.

Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.

“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets.

“We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’

“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”