Jul 3, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) hits a double in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals rumors: Nolan Arenado buzz seems to be about nothing
SEATTLE — Nolan Arenado didn’t do much in the All-Star Game here on Tuesday night. Fittingly, the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman’s 0-for-2 performance at the plate seems to carry about as much punch as the rumors that seem to be following him around.
St. Louis Cardinals rumors: Putting the brakes on the Nolan Arenado trade talk
One of the big rumors that came out of the Pacific Northwest this week was Jon Heyman’s click bait headline that read, “Nolan Arenado knows Cardinals trading him isn’t out of the question.” The problem, however, is that a trade that will send Arenado out of the Gateway City simply isn’t happening.
As Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out on Twitter, the St. Louis Cardinals superstar has a no-trade clause in his contract. He has also made very clear that he intends to stay in St. Louis, despite the team struggling to a 38-52 mark at the All-Star break.
In a video posted by Goold here (behind a paywall, be warned), Heyman asks Arenado about the possibility of being traded. Arenado responds, “Sure, anything is possible, but I’d be very surprised.” After Heyman leaves, Goold asks Arenado point blank about if he wants to stay in St. Louis. Arenado answers, “Yeah, absolutely. I opted in for a reason, right? So, you know, I opted in, and if I didn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t have done that.”
That opt-in ensures Arenado will be with the Cardinals through the 2027 campaign. After St. Louis worked a massively favorable deal with the Colorado Rockies to obtain Arenado, trading him in the middle of one down campaign would seem to be counter-productive to anything the franchise wanted to do in the near future.
While St. Louis may trade players like Jordan Montgomery or Jack Flaherty, sending someone like Arenado or Paul Goldschmidt out of the franchise simply doesn’t make sense … even though it does make for good newspaper headlines.
