"Nolan Arenado may have to broaden his horizons" - MLB insider raises concerns about Cardinals superstar's trade options

Veteran St. Louis Cardinals slugger Nolan Arenado's name has been in the news ever since the Cardinal's front office revealed they were open to trading the eight-time All-Star earlier this offseason.

Arenado attracted plenty of teams in December and when it seemed like the Cardinals were ready to move the slugger to Houston, the All-Star third baseman refused to waive his no-trade clause to block a potential trade to the Astros.

Earlier in January, the 33-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Boston Red Sox with reports claiming that Arenado was willing to waive his no-trade clause to move to Boston. However, things have gone quiet over the last two weeks.

MLB insider Robert Murray raised concerns over a potential trade for Arenado on "The Baseball Insiders" podcast, saying (28:20 onwards):

"They made it crystal clear they want to move on from Arenado and his contract, but he really holds all the power here or most of the power. Well, there's the no trade clause that's already ended up preventing a deal with Houston. But his Market was always going to be limited with that no-trade clause and that huge salary, which was always going to be a huge obstacle.

"I've echoed it throughout that it was probably going to be Red Sox or bust for Arenado. I'm not hopeful he's gonna end up getting the solution that he wants, so he may have to kind of broaden his horizons a little bit. It was always going to be very difficult for the Cardinals to move him. And this offseason is kind of really underscore that."

Arenado has three years remaining on his contract and turns 34 in April. He also has a hefty $74 million salary remaining on his contract that has potentially stopped teams from going for the veteran slugger.

Cardinals front office hopeful of a trade for Nolan Arenado with Spring Training looming

Although with less than a month to go for Spring Training, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is not giving up on a potential trade for Nolan Arenado.

Mozeliak asserted on the team's plans of upgrading the roster ahead of the 2025 season and offloading Arenado remains a key part of that plan.

“Well, I’m hopeful,” Mozeliak said of an Arenado trade on Saturday at the Winter Warm-Up festivities. "When you say ‘confident’ or ‘putting odds on it,’ I think it’s still a flip of a coin. I know that it’s a top priority for the organization and myself. So, I’ll be laser-focused on that until it’s not."

If Nolan Arenado fails to find a new team in the offseason, the Cardinals might look to move him at the trade deadline later this year.