Nolan Arenado appears to be in no hurry to flee the Cardinals

Nolan Arenado is topic number one, two and three among fans and media regarding the St. Louis Cardinals, and while a common thought has been that Arenado is interested in leaving St. Louis to play for a team that is more likely to contend for a championship, Arenado's actions have suggested that he doesn't mind remaining in the Gateway City.

The St. Louis Cardinals were, at one point, a highly desirable franchise for players. Arenado chose to waive his full no-trade clause in 2021 when he joined the Cardinals after a trade from the Colorado Rockies, and he was excited to play for a team that had a reputation as a perennial winner. According to Cardinals manager Oli Marmol, Arenado had told former Cardinals and Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday that he would love to wear the birds on the bat.

Four seasons later, while Arenado might not be as enthusiastic to play in St. Louis as he was upon departing Colorado, he has not displayed a desire to leave at all costs.

Arenado has had four chances to sever ties with St. Louis, and he has not taken the team up on it in any of those instances.

Arenado's decision not to opt out of his contract in 2021 and his choice to opt in to the remaining years in 2022 could be viewed as faith that the organization could turn itself around and head deeper into the playoffs. But when the Cardinals failed at that task over the next two seasons, Arenado's actions still didn't seem befitting of a player who was interested in leaving the team at all costs.

When the Cardinals decided to embark on their youth movement, Arenado never approached President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak to ask for a trade. Instead, Mozeliak was the one to spring the idea on Arenado, saying he would look to find a suitor if Arenado was willing to exercise his no-trade clause.

Then came Arenado's choice to veto the trade to the Houston Astros. If Arenado is desperate to play for a contending team, it seems that the Astros would have fit his wishes more than the Cardinals, even without Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman on the roster. But according to reports, the list of teams that Arenado is willing to waive his no-trade clause for comprises the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Red Sox, the San Diego Padres, and the Los Angeles Angels.

It appears that Arenado's top choice is to play for a bona fide World Series contender (or, in the case of the Angels, just go back to his Los Angeles home), but if that's not possible, he would prefer to stay in St. Louis.

The atmosphere at Busch Stadium might be more hostile to Arenado than he's used to given that he would be preventing some young players from receiving significant plate appearances, but he's also deserving of some admiration for his willingness to stick with the organization. He might not be as excited to stay with the Cardinals as Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, who both made it clear that they wanted to remain with the team, but there's reason to believe that Arenado isn't livid of the fact that he's likely to remain a Cardinal for 2025.