The St. Louis Cardinals announced Monday that they have completed a trade deadline deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, acquiring minor league prospects right-hander Daniel Eagen, left-hander Sandro Santana and a player to be named later in exchange for outfielder Lars Nootbaar.
The move sends the 28-year-old Nootbaar to a contending Diamondbacks club while returning two young arms to an organization that continues to prioritize pitching depth. Nootbaar reunites in Arizona with longtime teammate and close friend Nolan Arenado, who was traded from St. Louis to the Diamondbacks in January.
Nootbaar spent his entire professional career in the Cardinals system after debuting in 2021. He opened the 2026 season on the injured list following offseason surgeries on both heels and did not debut until early June. In 48 games he hit .234/.333/.354 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. The on-base skills that defined much of his value remained, but overall production lagged. Arizona, dealing with outfield injuries, acquires a left-handed bat with positional versatility and a strong track record of working counts.
Daniel Eagen, RHP Eagen, 23, was born November 23, 2002, in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. The 6-foot-4, 206-pound right-hander is ranked as Arizona’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 13 by Baseball America. He was selected by the Diamondbacks in the third round (102nd overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Presbyterian College.
In his first full professional season in 2025, Eagen was named the Diamondbacks’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He earned Northwest League Pitcher of the Year honors, was a Post-Season All-Star, and was selected as a Baseball America High-A All-Star. He led the Arizona farm system with 153 strikeouts that year.
This season at Double-A Amarillo, Eagen is 5-8 with a 4.95 ERA over 87.1 innings in 20 starts. He has struck out 109 batters (11.2 SO/9), leading all Diamondbacks minor leaguers and ranking fifth among all Double-A pitchers (third in the Texas League). He has recorded a pair of 10-strikeout games. Eagen also took part in 2026 Major League Spring Training with Arizona as a non-roster invitee.
Eagen works from a high arm slot with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and generates strong induced vertical break. His primary secondary is a sharp curveball that has shown plus potential, complemented by a slider and a developing changeup/splitter. The combination of size, fastball shape, and a true swing-and-miss breaking ball gives him a mid-rotation starter ceiling if the changeup continues to progress, with a viable high-leverage relief fallback.
Sandro Santana, LHP Santana, 21, was born March 7, 2005, in Barahona, Dominican Republic. The 5-foot-10, 150-pound left-hander is ranked No. 22 in the Diamondbacks system by MLB Pipeline. He signed with Arizona as an international free agent in January 2023.
This season Santana has posted a 2.14 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .188 batting average against with 70 strikeouts across 46.1 innings in 31 relief appearances between High-A Hillsboro and Double-A Amarillo. He owns a 37.0 percent strikeout rate and 10.6 percent walk rate while allowing just seven extra-base hits (.255 SLG against).
Since his June 24 promotion to Double-A, Santana has been dominant: a 0.57 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 36.2 percent strikeout rate in 11 appearances. He features a fastball that sits in the mid-90s out of a lower arm slot that creates difficult angles, paired with a two-plane slider that generates swings and misses. At 21 and already performing at Double-A, he profiles as a potential mid-leverage major league reliever with further refinement of his command.
For the Cardinals, the deal converts a major-league contributor with two years of arbitration remaining into controllable pitching talent. Eagen arrives as one of the higher-upside starting prospects the organization has added in recent cycles, while Santana provides an advanced left-handed relief piece already succeeding at Double-A. The player to be named later will complete the package.
Nootbaar leaves St. Louis having carved out a solid career as a reliable on-base threat and respected clubhouse presence. He now gets the chance to chase a postseason berth in the desert alongside Arenado. For the Cardinals, attention turns to how quickly Eagen and Santana can continue their development and eventually impact the major league roster.
