Nolan Arenado Rumors: Cardinals Star More Likely to Be Traded Than Remain in STL…
Nolan Arenado could be moving on this winter after four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, multiple sources around the MLB believe Arenado is more likely to be traded by the Cardinals than to remain with the team for the 2025 season.
Arenado has a no-trade clause and three years remaining on his current contract. A Cardinals team source told Woo that Arenado would only waive the clause for a contending team.
An eight-time All-Star, Arenado is looking for more production in 2025 after batting .272 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI last season.
That marked his lowest home run total through a full season since his 2014 campaign with the Rockies.
But Arenado expressed confidence that he would be able to increase his production in 2025 as he continues to recover from the back injury that cut short his 2023 season.
“I played over 150 games, I didn’t have the back issues I did last year and there’s no doubt my body can hold up,” Arenado told MLB.com’s John Denton about his 2024 campaign in September.
He added that his plan this offseason is to “get back in the gym” and work on his explosiveness.
According to Woo, Arenado is also willing to switch to first base or “at least” spend less time at third base in order to appeal to contenders.
That infield flexibility could make Arenado a more appealing trade option, as could his contributions on defense. After not being named a Gold Glove Awards finalist in 2023 for the first time in 11 seasons, Arenado made it back on the list in 2024.
Trading Arenado would help the Cardinals achieve their likely goal this winter of clearing out salary to bring young talent to the roster, but there is still the possibility St. Louis would have to take on part of his deal in order to move him.
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