Latest Nolan Arenado Report Will Shake Things Up For Cardinals

There has been chatter about the St. Louis Cardinals trading Nolan Arenado over the last year, but the team was never able to get a deal to happen because of his no-trade clause and interest around the league.

St. Louis almost had a deal done with the Houston Astros, but it was vetoed. Arenaado gave the Cardinals a list of five teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Houston Astros, and seemingly has stood by the list since. While this is the case, The Athletic's Katie Woo shared on Thursday for the first time details about Arenado being open to expanding that list.

The St. Louis Cardinals got a Nolan Arenado update

Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) throws to first base for an out against the San Francisco Giants during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

"For Nolan Arenado, the one-time prized trade acquisition brought to St. Louis to ensure better results, it marked another disappointment," Woo said. "He expects to be involved in offseason trade discourse again. However, this time, he’s aware he’ll have to make some concessions. Arenado will expand his list of teams he’d waive his no-trade clause for, he revealed Wednesday, and he’ll be more open-minded to the trade process overall this winter.

"'I think I have to be,' Arenado said to Woo. 'That’s something I’ll discuss with my agent and my family. I think the discussion I’ll have with my agent for sure is that the list will be different.' Still, it stings to know he likely won’t have another chance at it with this organization...'

"Arenado agreeing to expand his options will help, but ownership will almost certainly need to rethink its stance on Arenado’s contract. To give Mozeliak’s successor, Chaim Bloom, the best shot in facilitating a trade, ownership will need to be willing to pay significantly more of the remainder of Arenado’s contract — roughly $40 million over the next two years."

As the chatter around Arenado has grown over the last year, this idea of his no-trade clause has continously been brought up. Now, it sounds like he has softened and in doing so, that will shake things up for the Cardinals. If St. Louis can trade him, then that obviously opens up third base for a younger guy to see what they can do. JJ Wetherholt, perhaps? We'll see, but this is a big update nonetheless.

More MLB: Predicting Cardinals’ 2026 Opening Day Lineup Under Chaim Bloom