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While the St. Louis Cardinals have been trying to deal Nolan Arenado all offseason, his no-trade clause has made matters difficult. With the Boston Red Sox seemingly taking themselves out of the running, an Arenado trade may no longer come to fruition.
The Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract. With him being poised to play second, Boston has committed to Rafael Devers remaining at third base. In turn, taking them out of the Arenado running.
After the deal was announced, President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak made Arenado's status in St. Louis clear, via Katie Woo of The Athletic.
“Nolan Arenado is likely going to be apart of our club at this point,” Mozeliak admitted.
With Arenado's no-trade clause in place, the Cardinals were limited in terms of teams they could talk to. They had a deal in place with the Houston Astros that was nixed by Arenado. Furthermore, it was widely known that the third baseman would have approve a deal to the Red Sox. While there may have been other suitors, Boston was one of the few teams with Arenado's actual blessing.
Now that Bregman is in the fold, those talks have immediately stopped. Even if Boston traded away Triston Casas – re-opening up first base for Devers – they likely couldn't afford both Arenado and Bregman. Furthermore, the Red Sox seemingly had ample opportunities to trade for Arenado. Instead, they decided to take a big swing in free agency.
The Cardinals could always re-visit trade talks as the season progresses. A contending team could lose their third baseman and turn to Arenado. Of course, they would need the third baseman's permission. But if St. Louis continues to struggle, maybe he'd want an opportunity to play on a contender.
For now though, Nolan Arenado will enter spring training still donning Cardinals across his chest and looking to bounce back from his down 2024 campaign.
