Nolan Arenado's Trade Market and Potential Destinations

As the trade market for Nolan Arenado continues to heat up, the no-trade clause in his contract gives him significant control over his potential move from the St. Louis Cardinals. According to MLB.com’s John Denton, Arenado would approve a trade to the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets, or Red Sox. It's unclear if these are the only teams on Arenado's "wish list," or if he would be open to other clubs under the right conditions.


During the Winter Meetings, Arenado’s agent, Joel Wolfe, discussed his client's situation with reporters, including Denton, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wolfe suggested that Arenado's list of potential teams is more extensive than it might seem. The main criterion for Arenado is finding "a team that he thinks is going to win now and consistently for the remainder of his career. He wants a team that has the throttle down...that he believes he can jump right in and they’re going to win right now."


Wolfe emphasized that Arenado is not interested in moving just for the sake of it. He stated, "Nolan's not going to go just to go," and "he's not going to approve and move his family and go play somewhere that would...sidestepping" into a situation no better than his current one in St. Louis. Wolfe also mentioned that he and Arenado have been in regular contact with Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, who has suggested some teams that have already been ruled out by Arenado as "hard no’s."