MLB Insider surprisingly reveals Nolan Arenado declined another trade this winter

John Mozeliak and the St. Louis Cardinals were shopping their eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado this winter heavily. According to Mozeliak, it was "priority one, two, and three."

While a deal was never reached between the Cardinals, Arenado, and another team, a deal was quite close with the Houston Astros. In fact, according to many sources in the league, a deal was "on the one-yard line."

Arenado declined a trade to Houston due to uncertainty surrounding the organization. It was likely that third baseman Alex Bregman would be departing via free agency, which he did once he signed with the Boston Red Sox, another suitor for Arenado. Nolan wasn't confident that the Astros would be more competitive than the Cardinals after the departure of Bregman. The Astros then pivoted to first baseman Christian Walker, all but removing the possibility of a trade to Houston.

Arenado's six-team list includes other clubs like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees. One other team on the list reportedly had struck a deal for the Platinum Glove third baseman, too.

According to reports, Nolan Arenado declined trades to both the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels this past offseason.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote that the Cardinals are not receiving any trade interest in Nolan Arenado up to this point in the year. However, that wasn't the most surprising part of Nightengale's story. Nightengale also said that Nolan Arenado declined a trade to the Los Angeles Angels this offseason.

"The St. Louis Cardinals are not receiving any interest in third baseman Nolan Arenado after he rejected trades this winter to the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels," wrote Nightengale.

Now, I'm not sure about you, but I don't ever remember hearing that Nolan Arenado declined a trade to the Los Angeles Angels this offseason. I recall many a story about him declining a move to Houston, but I don't remember hearing about him declining a trade to Los Angeles to play for the Angels.

A trade to Hollywood would be logical from the Angels' perspective. Oft-injured Anthony Rendon couldn't be trusted at the hot corner, and their reinforcements behind Rendon were shaky at best. They had to sign Yoan Moncada to play third base for them once Rendon got hurt (again), and while Moncada is posting a .883 OPS at third, he's played only 12 games there. The club's primary third baseman up to this point, Luis Rengifo, has a 49 wRC+ through 23 games.

Mike Trout would be the Angels' only redeeming factor, and even he's run into more injury issues this year, a recurring theme for the future Hall of Fame outfielder. It's a no-brainer that Arenado would decline a trade to play for the Angels, given their abysmal outlook for the near future.

It's also extremely surprising to hear this far into the regular season that Nolan Arenado declined a trade to the Los Angeles Angels this past offseason. There was no reporting of a trade that fell through at the time, and the timing is curious for it to be reported now.