Houston Astros have resumed their trade talks for Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals

MLB Trade Rumors: The Houston Astros have resumed their trade talks for Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals

A fresh twist in the story of finding the third baseman a new home for 2025 has arisen, one day after it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals have slowed their efforts to find a trade partner for Nolan Arenado.  A team that seemed to be out of the running for the eight-time All-Star back in December has reopened negotiations with the Cardinals.

 According to MLB.com, Houston has rekindled interest in acquiring the Cardinals' slugger, even though a deal sending Arenado to the Houston Astros seemed doomed just two months ago.

 The soon-to-be 34-year-old veteran, who is starting his 13th season in baseball, was thought to be a top target for the Astros. 

Actually, before Arenado rejected the move, Houston was getting close to signing the player.

 Arenado's contract contains a no-trade provision, which makes moving him even more challenging given his age, pay, and the drop in offensive output he's seen over the past two years.

 Is it possible that the Cardinals may trade Nolan Arenado this offseason?

Arenado did, however, provide a list of five teams he was interested in playing for to John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the Cardinals.  The Dodgers, the Padres, the Yankees, the Red Sox, and yes, the Astros, were on that list.

Nolan Arenado surprisingly turned down a deal to Houston, despite having specifically specified the Astros as a team for which he would be ready to waive his no-trade clause.  According to MLB.com, he was reluctant to complete a trade to the Astros because the team had traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, which the 10-time Gold Glove winner took as a sign that Houston would not be contending for a championship anytime soon.

According to MLB.com, Arenado saw Houston's signing of veteran first baseman Christian Walker following the Cardinals/Astros trade shambles as proof that the organization was truly attempting to win it all in 2025.  The Arenado-to-Houston negotiations have resumed.  Anyhow, right now.

 Arenado seems to be happy to stay with the Cardinals.  He started at the hot corner for St. Louis, as he has in each of the last four seasons since being traded to the Cardinals from the Colorado Rockies in 2021, and they were okay with him on the roster to open the season.