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As St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado is in rumors ahead of the trade deadline on the evening of July 31, there is no doubt that a bunch of teams could use his talents if he were to become available. With the baseball world wondering what the Cardinals' plans are with Arenado, one team that could be an interesting destination is the Houston Astros.
The main reason why the Astros have been mentioned is because of two reasons: the first being that the team could use a third baseman, and the other is that the team went after Arenado before. However, Arenado wouldn't waive his no-trade clause last offseason when a deal could have been in place for him to go to Houston.
However, it has been reported that the Astros have “no interest in reigniting talks” for Arenado, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.
“The Houston Astros would like to find a third baseman while Isaac Paredes recovers from his hamstring tear, but have no interest in reigniting talks with the St. Louis Cardinals for third baseman Nolan Arenado,” Nightengale wrote. They had agreed to a trade during the winter, and the Astros had permission to speak to Arenado, but they couldn’t convince him they were still going to contend this year.”
Houston general manager Dana Brown would say to USA Today that the team couldn't convince Arenado of their plans.
“We tried to convince him that we’re not rebuilding, that the window is always open with our owner,” Brown said. “We planned to compete in 2025 and beyond. He misunderstood the plan.”
Cardinals ‘entertaining offers' for Nolan Arenado
While people will continue to focus on rumors around a possible Arenado trade away from the Cardinals, the third baseman does hold some leverage as he has the no-trade clause. Still, it would also be reported by Katie Woo of The Athletic that St. Louis will “entertain offers” involving Arenado.
“St. Louis will entertain offers on Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray,” Woo wrote. “Both players have full no-trade clauses but could be motivated to waive them for the right fit. [President of Baseball Operations John] Mozeliak has started to gauge the interest of a handful of contending teams, though the talks are described as preliminary.”
“The odds of either player being traded before the deadline remain slim, but the Cardinals are financially motivated to move their contracts,” Woo continued. “Gray is owed $35 million in 2026, his final guaranteed year of his three-year contract, and Arenado has $31 million (not including deferrals) remaining over the next two seasons.”
Arenado has been great defensively, but his offensive numbers have been down as he sports a .237 batting average to go along with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs. It remains to be seen where Arenado ends up with the trade deadline on July 31, as said before.
