Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado explains decision to veto Astros trade

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado was the topic of many trade rumors over the winter, with his turning down a deal to go to the Houston Astros being arguably the most notable story related to him this offseason. Arenado explained that the Kyle Tucker trade was a part of why he did not approve of the deal.

“(Tucker) is one of the best players in the game. When you see a team trade him, 99 out of 100 players would probably be wondering, ‘What does that mean?’ That’s the question I asked myself,” Nolan Arenado said, via Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Arenado is still a member of the Cardinals, as the team could not find another trade suitor during the offseason. Arenado also knew that if he had accepted a trade to the Astros, third baseman Alex Bregman would also be gone.

“And obviously if I went there, (Alex) Bregman wouldn’t have been going there — that’s another player,” Arenado said, via Rome.

Bregman ended up departing for the Boston Red Sox in free agency, taking away another potential Arenado destination. The Astros got Isaac Paredes along with Cam Smith and Hayden Wesneski from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Tucker, and also signed first baseman Christian Walker in free agency. After those moves, there was no more room for Arenado.

“I respect the Astros because they can’t just wait for me to make my decision,” Arenado said, via Rome. “They have to move on and they have to make their team better, which they did. They got Walker and they did some other things. I can see how it was taken as ‘no,’ but they know I didn’t say ‘no.’ It was more of, ‘I need to see how this all plays out first.'”

Arenado is off to a solid start this season, despite many believing that he has been in decline over the last few years. Hopefully that continues, as the Cardinals could make a playoff push, or eventually trade Arenado at the deadline if they are out of the race.