One of the biggest storylines in Major League Baseball this offseason has been whether or not the St. Louis Cardinals would trade Nolan Arenado. Another wrinkle to that saga was just added on Tuesday when Arenado exercised his no-trade clause to block a potential deal to the Houston Astros.
Katie Woo of the Athletic explained just how complicated the whole situation surrounding Arenado has become in an interview on “Foul Territory” on Thursday.
“Shocker, it's a complicated situation… He did present the Cardinals with a short list of teams he would consider. This was at the beginning of the offseason though, and while the Astros were on it, you think about where the Astros are now, they traded away Kyle Tucker, if you are pursuing Nolan Arenado you are presumably no longer in the running for Alex Bregman,” Woo said. “The Houston Astros are a completely different team without Tucker and Bregman. That could have given Nolan some pause.”
“What I do know about the situation is that he declined to waive his no-trade clause on Tuesday for now,” Woo continued. “This is not going to stop the two sides from continuing conversations, though it is unclear just how heavily the Astros will pivot away from Arenado or if they will at all. All Nolan said was, ‘I'm not going to Houston right now,' it's not no, it's just no for the time being. The reason for that is he still wants to see how his market is going to take hold. To me, it was not necessarily about the team being a good fit, but the timing not being a good fit.”
What is Nolan Arenado's trade market





Teams like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and most recently, the Astros have all been linked to Arenado throughout the offseason.
However, like what just happened with the Astros, Arenado has a full no-trade clause in his contract with the Cardinals, and has the ability to veto any trade, allowing him to basically choose his next destination.
Based on that, it is unlikely that the Cardinals would be able to get a significant return for Arenado. The best they could hope for is most likely a mid-level prospect and for the other team to take on some of his salary.
While Arenado's offense has taken a dip, he is still a Gold Glove-caliber defender at third base and could be a valuable piece to a contending team.