Chaim Bloom Announces Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado Update

Over the next few months, there is going to be chatter left and right about Nolan Arenado's future -- and most likely departure -- from the St. Louis Cardinals.

He has made it known multiple times over the last couple of weeks that he will be willing to expand his list of approved trade locations from the list of five teams he gave the Cardinals last year. Last year's list was just the Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Houston Astros. Arenado has been open and candid about the fact that the Cardinals and himself seem to be going in different directions, hence why he would be more willing to expand his list of approved teams.

Chaim Bloom has his work cut out for him

St. Louis Cardinals executive Chaim Bloom — Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

All of the buzz about Arenado has been about the possibility of a trade and which teams could make sense for him. On Tuesday, the Cardinals unveiled Chaim Bloom as the team's new president of baseball operations and he touched upon many topics. One of those topics briefly was Arenado. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared that Bloom noted that releasing Arenado is "not an option" and if a deal doesn't get done, the Cardinals would be comfortable with Arenado back in 2026.

"Among the quick takeaways from a long conversation between Chaim Bloom and local writers: Expects to keep front office leadership group, adding to it. May move some responsibilities," Gool said. "Says releasing Arenado is 'not an option.' If they cannot trade him, they'd 'be happy' to keep him as their 3B. Sees need to add starting pitching options, possibly through free agency."

With that being said, the most likely option remains that Arenado will be traded this offseason. Where there's smoke there's usually fire and that has been the big talking point for a year at this point. But, it is interesting to hear Bloom's comfortable with Arenado sticking around. That's a different strategy than at this point last year. The Cardinals' front office publicly said over and over how they wanted to trade Arenado away and how it was a priority. This is at least a different way to go about it.

With a release completely off of the table, it sounds like it's either the right deal comes around that Arenado accepts or another year of him in St. Louis.

More MLB: Chaim Bloom Sends Important First Message To Cardinals Fans