Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado made the three-hour, cross-state drive to play in an exhibition game Wednesday against the Yankees, among the teams that may be open to acquiring him in a trade.

The interesting part is that the trip from the Cardinals' spring training site, Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., to the Yankees' site is roughly three hours, quite the commute for a player of Arenado's stature at this early juncture in the spring.

Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt breaks silence on Nolan Arenado trade rumors, discussing their friendship and Arenado’s future with the Cardinals.

Not on Wednesday afternoon, however. Fans planning to catch the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees face off at New York's George M. Steinbrenner Field got a pleasant surprise: Not only did Nolan Arenado make the three-plus-hour drive from Cardinals camp in Jupiter to Yankees camp in Tampa, but he'll be starting at third base for St. Louis.

The New York Yankees have a need at third base but MLB insider Jon Heyman explains why a deal is unlikely to happen.

The St. Louis Cardinals spent all offseason shopping Nolan Arenado in hopes of finding a suitor to take his contract off their hands. Trading him also would have opened up third base for Nolan Gorman or Thomas Saggese.

The St. Louis Cardinals are bringing Nolan Arenado on a three-hour road trip to play the New York Yankees in spring training. Want to trade?