Nolan Arenado Vetoed Houston Astros Deal Because He Was 'Not Sold' on His Fit

An insider has revealed why Nolan Arenado decided to exercise his no-trade clause in the potential Houston Astros deal.

Feb 17, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third base Nolan Arenado (28) takes infield practice at spring training / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

It feels like ages ago the Houston Astros were on the verge of landing one of the best third basemen the game has ever seen before Nolan Arenado exercised his no-trade clause to squash the deal.

With Alex Bregman in free agency, general manager Dana Brown decided to make the aggressive move to ship Kyle Tucker out of town before he also hit the open market after the 2025 campaign where they were likely to lose him as well.

The Astros got back a good return, adding All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes to backfill Bregman's opening, also acquiring pitcher Hayden Wesneski and prospect Cam Smith, who is now ranked No. 1 in their pipeline.

It was a solid haul, but Houston was eyeing another major trade.

If they were to add Arenado, they likely would have moved Paredes to first base, plugging that hole which has given them some problems the past couple seasons.

For all intents and purposes, the Astros had a done deal.

The St. Louis Cardinals were ready to trade their star, and subsequent reporting stated everything was on the "1-yard line" before it was turned over to Arenado for his approval.

Houston was not one of the clubs on his original approved teams list, so there was always the possibility that he would turn down the move, something that came to fruition when he vetoed the deal and remained on the Cardinals roster.

Instead of waiting around to see if the future Hall of Famer would change is mind, the Astros turned to the free agency market and signed Christian Walker to become their first baseman.

Now, with the dust settled on a wild offseason for this franchise, it has now been revealed why exactly Arenado wasn't interested in coming to Houston.

"Mozeliak gave him the weekend to decide. By Monday, Arenado was still not sold. He did not want to rule out the Astros for good — something he communicated to both St. Louis and Houston — but he wanted more time to see how his market would play out and just how much Bregman's free agency was impacting it. He also did not want his family (Arenado has a 2-year-old daughter, Levi, with his wife, Laura) to have to adjust to another organization unless he was entirely sure of his decision," reported Katie Woo of The Athletic.

The insider also added Arenado wanted to wait to see how the Astros would fill out the remainder of their roster before being OK with the move.

He wasn't given that time.

Houston could have been patient.

Per Woo, the Astros were confident he would eventually waive his no-trade clause and come to the franchise.

But Houston made the right decision.

There's no guarantee Arenado would have changed his mind, and with the Astros still having a clear need at first base, Brown could not afford to sit around and wait while perhaps the best free agent first baseman on the market was still available.

So, the star remains in St. Louis and Houston has their revamped roster.

Whether either party comes to regret their decision this winter remains to be seen.

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