Breaking: Nolan Arenado Uses No-Trade Clause To Block Trade to AL Team

As word has spread around the majors the past few weeks that Nolan Arenado was ready to accept a trade out of St. Louis to a destination that he felt comfortable with, we've now learned from several sources that he has used his full no-trade clause to block a deal to the Houston Astros.

.@Feinsand, @brianmctaggart and @JohnDenton555 report that Nolan Arenado has blocked a potential trade to the Astros. pic.twitter.com/QfpO9t6NjC
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 18, 2024

According to a report from mlb.com, the Cardinals were willing to send $15-20 million to the Astros as part of the deal to help pay down the remaining $74 million that Arenado is owed, but the eight-time All-Star said 'No thanks" to going to the Astros.

The other notable piece of news here is that with this serious bid to try to land Arenado, one would question if the Astros feel that they will not be able to come to terms with their own longtime star third baseman Alex Bregman, who has plenty of suitors on the free agent market. But other reports suggest that a reunion is still possible.

Why Arenado refuses to go to Houston hasn't been revealed, but perhaps he feels that the team won't be a contender after their shocking sell-off of superstar Kyle Tucker last week (and the impending loss of Bregman as well).

Or perhaps there's still some cheating scandal bad blood. Whatever the reason, the Cardinals will continue working on a trade for Arenado, to a place of his liking.

The player's agent, Joel Wolfe, indicated last week that the 10-time Gold Glover is open to waiving his no-trade clause for "the right situation... But he's not going to go just anywhere.”