Nolan Arenado remains a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, but not for lack of trying on the Cardinals' part.
As the front office embraces a youth movement in 2025, the 33-year-old third baseman is perhaps blocking the path of some of his younger teammates, and certainly seems unlikely to realize his goal of winning a World Series in St. Louis before his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.
Now, according to John Denton of MLB.com, Arenado has told the Cardinals he'll waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade to the Boston Red Sox.
The no-trade clause effectively allows Arenado to choose where he plays next year — so long as another team wants him. The Red Sox, perhaps frustrated in their attempts to add to their infield via free agency, have been linked to Arenado in recent days.
In December, Arenado reportedly blocked a trade to the Houston Astros that would have allowed him to fill the shoes of free agent Alex Bregman. When the Astros signed free agent Christian Walker to a three-year, $60 million contract, it removed a potential path out of St. Louis for Arenado.
The Cardinals were willing to send $15-20 million to the Astros as part of the deal to help pay down Arenado's salary, according to sources cited by MLB.com. Arenado is owed $74 million over the next three years, with the Rockies on the hook for $10 million as part of their 2021 trade with the Cardinals.
Now, Denton reports "the Red Sox have emerged as a strong candidate to land Arenado via a trade from the Cardinals."
An eight-time All-Star, Arenado is coming off a pair of down years by his standards.
Since finishing third in National League MVP voting in 2022, Arenado has put together back-to-back seasons of 2.4 and 2.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference — the worst years of his career in any non-pandemic seasons.
In 12 seasons with the Rockies and Cardinals, Arenado has hit 341 home runs while slashing .285/.342/.515.
More to come on this story from Newsweek Sports.
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