Nolan Arenado clears up why he rejected Cardinals' deal with Astros last offseason

Former St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak thought he had wrapped up the Nolan Arenado trade saga back in December of 2024 after finalizing a deal with the Houston Astros, one of Arenado's preferred destinations.

Well, until Arenado changed his mind.

That whole fiasco left a bad taste in the mouths of many, and while Arenado has been unfairly dragged for deciding he did not want to go to Houston, there remained a lot of confusion as to why Arenado would say he was open to the Astros and then get cold feet at the last moment.

Many reports surfaced in the weeks and months following that failed trade, and Arenado went on record with Foul Territory to give more details on that decision to decline a trade to Houston.

Nolan Arenado shared that there were "a lot of things" that he was hesitant about regarding rejected trade to Houston last offseason.

When asked directly about why he decided to say no to Houston, Arenado was quick to give praise to the operation that they have down there, but also pointed out the reasons for uncertainty that they provided him last offseason.

"I have the utmost respect for Houston," Arenado shared on Foul Territory. "I've said this so many times. You know, they traded Kyle Tucker. [Alex] Bregman wasn't going back. There were a lot of things that I was just a little hesitant about at the time. And I respect all of those players that are there and that organization, they're great...It's my life, and I have a family, and I've got to make the decisions for it. And it wasn't an easy one, but it was the one I went with."

As Arenado referenced, in the midst of the Astros and Cardinals putting together a deal that both sides were happy with, Houston decided to do some puzzling things that gave Arenado pause regarding their own future as a contender. Areando already experienced a contender falling apart in St. Louis, and he did not want to find himself in the same story in Houston.

Just days before, the Astros traded away superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker, a move that didn't feel like a team trying to go all-in on 2026. It had also become clear at that point that Alex Bregman wasn't coming back to Houston, so two of their four best position players were going to be gone from their roster. Not a great selling point!

Arenado's concerns were proven to be fair, as the Astros ended up missing the playoffs with an 87-win season.

Had Houston pulled this deal off for Arenado sooner or waited to trade Tucker until after the deal was made, then none of this would have been an issue. And with it still being mid-December and other potential suitors like the Boston Red Sox still leaving the door open, it made sense that Arenado wanted to wait to see if a better option presented itself. The Astros quickly pivoted to Christian Walker. effectively ending any chance he'd end up there. It later came out that the Astros' front office wasn't particularly happy with how Arenado handled the situation.

Now Arenado is a Diamondback, and the Cardinals are fully embracing the rebuild.