New details regarding Cardinals’ attempt to trade Nolan Arenado complicate the saga
A trade of the third baseman was a priority for the offseason but, as of now, Arenado is expected to be in St. Louis on Opening Day
Outgoing decision-maker John Mozeliak stated that trading Nolan Arenado was the St. Louis Cardinals ultimate priority and even had a deal in place to send the All-Star third baseman to Houston, one of the team’s on Arenado’s list of preferred destinations. Because of the built-in no-trade clause in his contract, Arenado had the ability to block the deal. Now, the future Hall of Famer appears set to stay in St. Louis for the foreseeable future.
Why would Nolan Arenado block a trade to a potential contender?
Cardinals reporter Katie Woo wrote an expansive, subscription-required piece on The Athletic detailing the tumultuous offseason for the team and their star player. The week after the Winter Meetings, it appeared the Cardinals were ready to make a deal with one of the preferred teams on Arenado’s trade list. A source said that the deal was on the “one-yard line” before falling through. How did this happen?
When John Mozeliak approached Arenado about trading him, Arenado provided him with a list of five teams he’d consider waiving his NTC for: BOS, NYY, LAD, SD and HOU.
Well, Arenado made it clear he wanted to play for a consistent contender, something the Cardinals were unable to do during the past two seasons.
The Astros made sense on the surface after going to the World Series in four of the past seven seasons, including two championships. However, the Astros were in an interesting situation themselves as they had just traded superstar outfielder to the division rival Cubs and seemed likely to lose cornerstone Alex Bregman to a mega-deal in free agency. It was at that point that Arenado paused in his willingness to head to Houston.
