<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-two-suitors-emerge-cardinals-all-star-ryan-helsley');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Two suitors emerge for Cardinals’ All-Star Ryan Helsley');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Two-suitors-emerge-for-Cardinals-All-Star-Ryan-Helsley.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Two suitors emerge for Cardinals’ All-Star Ryan Helsley</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-21T11:40:32-08:00">December 21st, 11:40am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-21T11:41:14-08:00">December 21st, 11:41am</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St. Louis Cardinals appear to be going full rebuild mode ahead of the 2025 season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/yankees-news-paul-goldschmidt-12-5-million-contract">Paul Goldschmidt just left in free agency and signed with the New York Yankees</a>, while the ball club is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-astros-emerge-as-serious-suitor-in-nolan-arenado-trade-talks">expected to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado</a> as well. But, he’s not the only player garnering trade interest.</p><p>All-Star closer Ryan Helsley <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/paul-goldschmidt-nolan-arenado-yankees-rumors?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share" rel="noopener">is catching the eye</a> of both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Arizona Diamondbacks, per MLB.com. However, it’s unknown if the Cardinals would actually be willing to move the flamethrower as well. Even though St. Louis struggled during 2024, Helsley was as consistent as ever.</p><p>The 30-year-old Cardinals closer posted a 7-4 record and 2.04 ERA, collecting an MLB-best 49 saves. He struck out 79 hitters in just 55.1 innings of work and regularly touches triple digits with his fastball. Helsley would be an intriguing option for the Blue Jays, who decided to part ways with Jordan Romano. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/phillies-news-jordan-romano-agrees-philly-deal-blue-jays-exit">He just signed with the Philadelphia Phillies</a>, which means Toronto needs a new closer.</p><p>The Diamondbacks just let Paul Sewald enter free agency after youngster Justin Martinez showed promise this past season. But, bringing in an established ninth-inning guy like Helsley would be a massive addition. After all, he was also just named the National League Reliever of the Year. Helsley owns a career 2.63 ERA. With that type of electric heater, Helsley would truly thrive with any team, no matter where it is.</p><p>According to reports, the Cardinals offered Helsley to the Blue Jays in the 2022 offseason in a potential Danny Jansen trade, but it ultimately fell through. The righty will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026, so he’s only under team control with the Cardinals for one more year.</p><p>It will be very interesting to see if St. Louis does move Helsley. By the looks of it, Arenado is likely the next one to go and he may even land with Goldschmidt in the Bronx.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Two suitors emerge for Cardinals’ All-Star Ryan Helsley

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-yankees-paul-goldschmidt-nolan-arenado-effect');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB Rumors: Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt interest could have Nolan Arenado effect');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Yankees-Paul-Goldschmidt-interest-could-have-Nolan-Arenado-effect.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB Rumors: Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt interest could have Nolan Arenado effect</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-21T00:08:37-08:00">December 21st, 12:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-21T00:09:32-08:00">December 21st, 12:09am</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>From 2021 to 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed the luxury of having two elite corner infielders, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-st-louis-not-trade-paul-goldschmidt-nolan-arenado-2023">Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, anchoring their lineup</a>. Now, the New York Yankees are reportedly ramping up efforts to acquire Goldschmidt, the veteran first baseman—and there’s growing speculation that Arenado could join him in the move to the Bronx.</p><p>Sources indicate that Paul Goldschmidt’s possible move to New York <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/paul-goldschmidt-nolan-arenado-yankees-rumors?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share" rel="noopener">could play a pivotal role</a> in convincing his former teammate, Nolan Arenado, to waive his no-trade clause and join the Yankees.</p><p>Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, has been a key target for New York, which reportedly approached the Cardinals earlier in the offseason regarding a trade. However, those discussions stalled as St. Louis was unwilling to take on the contract of veteran pitcher Marcus Stroman.</p><p>Acquiring both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, who have been teammates in St. Louis for the past four seasons, would enable the Yankees to reconfigure their infield. Jazz Chisholm Jr. could transition from third base to second base, joining Anthony Volpe at shortstop. This adjustment would create a more cohesive infield for the reigning 2024 American League champions.</p><h2><b>Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado playing together for the Cardinals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paul-Goldschmidt-and-Nolan-Arenado-celebrating-with-the-Cardinals.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In December 2018, John Mozeliak orchestrated a trade to acquire Goldschmidt, sending pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, and infielder Andy Young to the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the time, Goldschmidt was in the final year of his contract. To secure his long-term services, St. Louis extended him with a five-year, $130 million deal, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season.</p><p>Mozeliak acquired Arenado from the Colorado Rockies, securing $51 million alongside him, in exchange for pitchers Austin Gomber, Tony Locey, Jake Sommers, and infielders Mateo Gil and Elehuris Montero. Although Arenado has faced some difficulties in the past two seasons, the deal stands out as a major triumph for the Cardinals.</p><p>In their four seasons as teammates with the Cardinals, Goldschmidt and Arenado combined for an impressive collection of honors: three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, four All-Star selections, and top-three finishes in the 2022 NL MVP race, with Goldschmidt taking home the award. These achievements underscore the significant impact they made in St. Louis over a relatively brief span.</p><p>Where these two future Hall of Famers fall short is in the Cardinals’ team success during their tenure. Since 2021, St. Louis has claimed just one division title and made the playoffs in only two of four seasons with Arenado and Goldschmidt leading the roster. The team’s overall record of 337-311 over that span, translating to a .520 winning percentage, reflects solid but unremarkable performance.</p><p>The Cardinals’ postseason performance with Arenado and Goldschmidt on the roster has been nothing short of disappointing. The team was swept in the Wild Card series in both 2021 and 2022, with the two stars combining for a dismal 2-for-22 at the plate. They failed to record a single extra-base hit, drew just two walks, and struck out seven times across those games. Their playoff struggles played a significant role in the Cardinals’ inability to advance beyond the Wild Card round in either year.</p><h2><b>The Yankees potentially acquiring Goldschmidt and Arenado</b></h2><p>In response to the disappointment of losing superstar <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/juan-soto-bold-predictions-765-million-mets-contract">Juan Soto to their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets</a>, the Yankees have made bold moves to bolster their roster. They signed left-hander Max Fried to a lucrative eight-year, $218 million deal, while also trading for elite closer Devin Williams and versatile first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger. Adding Goldschmidt and Arenado would further enhance the Yankees’ lineup, offering veteran support for reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge.</p><p>A key obstacle in any potential trade with the Yankees is that Paul Goldschmidt, now 37, is reportedly seeking a multi-year deal, according to sources. This could give the Yankees pause, especially considering that Goldschmidt posted career lows in several major offensive categories over the past two seasons, following his 2022 National League MVP award.</p><p>Arenado, 33, has three years and $74 million left on his contract, with Colorado still responsible for $10 million and $12 million deferred. This reduces the commitment for a new team to about $60 million. Arenado exercised his full no-trade clause to block a proposed deal between St. Louis and Houston, which would have required the Cardinals to pay an additional $15-20 million of his salary.</p><p>Goldschmidt and Arenado will certainly be missed in St. Louis, but it’s hard not to feel that more could have been achieved during their time with the team. It’s a bittersweet conclusion to a challenging chapter in Cardinal history.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB Rumors: Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt interest could have Nolan Arenado effect

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-tigers-guardians-interested-in-veteran-cardinals-starters');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Tigers, Guardians interested in veteran Cardinals starters');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Tigers-Guardians-interested-in-veteran-Cardinals-starters.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Tigers, Guardians interested in veteran Cardinals starters</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T22:28:35-08:00">December 20th, 10:28pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T22:28:35-08:00">December 20th, 10:28pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St. Louis Cardinals brass has made it clear all offseason long that their goal is to get younger entering the 2025 season, as they believe as though their veteran core has plateaued and that a soft reset is in order to get the proud franchise back to its usual level. To that end, the Cardinals have been making their veteran players <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-cardinals-surprising-nolan-arenado-sonny-gray-trade-stance">available on the trade market</a> — including two starting pitchers in Erick Fedde and Steven Matz.</p><p>While Fedde and Matz are far from the flashiest starting pitchers to add to rotation, they should still command some interest on the trade market as veterans that won’t cost much in terms of salary as well as prospect capital. In fact, two playoff teams in 2024, the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers, have <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/paul-goldschmidt-nolan-arenado-yankees-rumors?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share" rel="noopener">reportedly expressed trade interest</a> in the two Cardinals starters, as per MLB.com.</p><p>The Guardians and Tigers managed to make it to the postseason in 2024 despite operating on a shoestring budget relative to other contending teams. Last season, the Tigers ranked 26th in payroll while the Guardians ranked 23rd — all while combining for 178 wins.</p><p>Thus, their interest in both Fedde and Matz is understandable. The former, in particular, has managed to revive his career upon his MLB return in 2024, and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/dodgers-cardinals-agree-tommy-edman-erick-fedde-michael-kopech-led-3-team-trade">Cardinals brought him in via trade</a> in their attempt to fight for a playoff spot. He is only making $7.5 million in 2025, and he should be well worth the price for both of the AL Central teams that have expressed interest.</p><p>Matz, however, is a bigger question mark. He only pitched 44.1 innings in 2024, tallying a 5.08 ERA in the process. And to top it all off, he’s set to <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/16106/steven-matz" rel="noopener">make $12.5 million</a> in 2025 — making it more difficult for the Cardinals to trade him away. But the silver lining is that he’s in the final year of his deal, so acquiring him wouldn’t require too much of a financial commitment moving forward.</p><h2><b>Cardinals expected to be sellers on the trade market this offseason</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-on-Sept.-25-2024-2.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In addition to the availability of those two aforementioned starting pitchers, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-situation-complicated">Cardinals have also made it no secret</a> that they would prefer to find a new home for Nolan Arenado in 2025 — shedding his huge salary in the process while opening up more playing time for their younger players.</p><p>The Cardinals, however, would not want to take on additional salary in any Arenado trade, as evidenced by their reported decision to decline an offer from the New York Yankees that would have sent Arenado to the Bronx in exchange for Marcus Stroman, who has two years left on his contract.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Tigers, Guardians interested in veteran Cardinals starters

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-situation-complicated');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade situation is ‘complicated’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12-19-24-arenado-featured.jpeg"></figure><h1>Why Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade situation is ‘complicated’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T13:40:14-08:00">December 19th, 1:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T13:40:14-08:00">December 19th, 1:40pm</time><address><a>David Korn</a>David Korn is an MLB associate editor at ClutchPoints. He is also a producer at MLB Network Radio and covers college basketball for A10Talk. David graduated from George Washington in 2023, where he was the radio play-by-play broadcaster for their Men's and Women's Basketball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Houston Astros</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>One of the biggest storylines in Major League Baseball this offseason has been whether or not the St. Louis Cardinals would trade Nolan Arenado. Another wrinkle to that saga was just added on Tuesday when Arenado exercised his no-trade clause to block a potential deal to the Houston Astros.</p><p>Katie Woo of the Athletic explained just <a href="https://x.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1869807831148593256" rel="noopener">how complicated</a> the whole situation surrounding Arenado has become in an interview on “Foul Territory” on Thursday.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“It’s a complicated situation”<a href="https://twitter.com/katiejwoo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@katiejwoo</a> dishes on the Nolan Arenado trade drama <a href="https://t.co/N4X1thFMHE">pic.twitter.com/N4X1thFMHE</a></p><p>— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1869807831148593256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>“Shocker, it’s a complicated situation… He did present the Cardinals with a short list of teams he would consider. This was at the beginning of the offseason though, and while the Astros were on it, you think about where the Astros are now, they traded away Kyle Tucker, if you are pursuing Nolan Arenado you are presumably no longer in the running for Alex Bregman,” Woo said. “The Houston Astros are a completely different team without Tucker and Bregman. That could have given Nolan some pause.”</p><p>“What I do know about the situation is that he declined to waive his no-trade clause on Tuesday for now,” Woo continued. “This is not going to stop the two sides from continuing conversations, though it is unclear just how heavily the Astros will pivot away from Arenado or if they will at all. All Nolan said was, ‘I’m not going to Houston right now,’ it’s not no, it’s just no for the time being. The reason for that is he still wants to see how his market is going to take hold. To me, it was not necessarily about the team being a good fit, but the timing not being a good fit.”</p><h2><b>What is Nolan Arenado’s trade market</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12-19-24-arenado-image.jpeg"><figcaption>© Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Teams like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and most recently, the Astros have all been linked to Arenado throughout the offseason.</p><p>However, like what just happened with the Astros, Arenado has a full no-trade clause in his contract with the Cardinals, and has the ability to veto any trade, allowing him to basically choose his next destination.</p><p>Based on that, it is unlikely that the Cardinals would be able to get a significant return for Arenado. The best they could hope for is most likely a mid-level prospect and for the other team to take on some of his salary.</p><p>While Arenado’s offense has taken a dip, he is still a Gold Glove-caliber defender at third base and could be a valuable piece to a contending team.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade situation is ‘complicated’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-2-teams-checking-in-nolan-arenado-astros-trade-snafu');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: The 2 teams checking in on Nolan Arenado after Cardinals-Astros trade snafu');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/0The-2-teams-checking-in-on-Nolan-Arenado-after-Astros-trade-snafu0-1.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: The 2 teams checking in on Nolan Arenado after Cardinals-Astros trade snafu</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T09:10:05-08:00">December 19th, 9:10am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T09:10:05-08:00">December 19th, 9:10am</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. A die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic, Brayden further channels his baseball enthusiasm through his podcast, where he delves into the latest in sports with engaging commentary. He also serves as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School. His commitment to sports journalism is evident in his diverse experiences with ContraCosta.news and his dedication to delivering compelling and insightful content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Boston Red Sox</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-blocks-potential-astros-trade">St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros seemed poised to finalize a blockbuster trade</a> involving third baseman Nolan Arenado, but the deal hit a snag when Arenado opted not to waive his full no-trade clause — at least for now. Despite the Astros’ aggressive pursuit, Arenado’s hesitation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6005277/2024/12/19/nolan-arenado-blocked-cardinals-astros-trade-analysis/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">has left both teams in limbo</a>.</p><p>Discussions between the two clubs reportedly reached advanced stages during the Winter Meetings, and both sides were optimistic that an agreement was imminent. The Astros were prepared to absorb a significant portion of Arenado’s remaining salary, while the Cardinals were only responsible for about $5 million annually. However, Arenado’s reluctance to commit to Houston, coupled with uncertainty surrounding the third-base market, brought negotiations to a halt.</p><p>Arenado’s decision to hold off stemmed from his desire to see how the market for third basemen, particularly free agent Alex Bregman, would unfold, via Katie Woo of The Athletic. Arenado reportedly wanted more clarity about Houston’s long-term direction, particularly after the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cubs-news-mlb-world-shambles-after-astros-cubs-kyle-tucker-trade">Astros traded outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs.</a></p><h2><b>The Cardinals will continue to seek a trade for Nolan Arenado this offseason</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-1.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged the complexities of moving Arenado, who holds a full no-trade clause. “These decisions are not something we ever take lightly,” Mozeliak said earlier this month. “(Arenado) is not demanding a trade. He’s not telling me I have to do it, but I think in the best interest of both sides, I’d like to try to find him someplace to land.”</p><p>The Cardinals are under mounting financial pressure, with declining television revenue and ticket sales prompting ownership to push for payroll reductions. Moving Arenado, who is owed over $60 million in present-day value including deferred salary, would provide significant financial relief. The Astros’ willingness to take on nearly $45 million of that burden made them an ideal trade partner for St. Louis.</p><p>Still, Arenado’s reservations complicate the Cardinals’ offseason plans. Mozeliak indicated the team would continue to explore other trade partners while considering alternative ways to cut payroll. Options could include trading players like Steven Matz or Erick Fedde, both of whom are on expiring deals, though those moves would not provide the same financial impact as dealing Arenado.</p><p>For now, both the Cardinals and Arenado agree that a trade remains the best solution, but timing and market dynamics will dictate the next steps. With teams like the Yankees and Red Sox reportedly keeping tabs, the situation remains fluid. However, unless Arenado’s stance changes, the Cardinals may be forced to pivot their strategy.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: The 2 teams checking in on Nolan Arenado after Cardinals-Astros trade snafu

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-shockingly-shot-down-astros-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Why Nolan Arenado shockingly shot down potential Astros trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Why-Nolan-Arenado-shockingly-shot-down-potential-Astros-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Why Nolan Arenado shockingly shot down potential Astros trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T22:15:23-08:00">December 18th, 10:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T06:39:34-08:00">December 19th, 6:39am</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Houston Astros</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>One of the best third basemen in the MLB made headlines on Wednesday. St. Louis Cardinals star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-blocks-potential-astros-trade">Nolan Arenado shockingly used his no-trade clause</a> to prevent himself from being traded to the Houston Astros.</p><p>Earlier this offseason, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-waive-no-trade-clause-6-teams">Arenado’s wish list of trade destinations was revealed</a>, and the Astros weren’t on it. Instead, the Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies are destinations that Arenado would be interested in. After playing for a bad Colorado Rockies team for a large chunk of his career and spending this season on a bad Cardinals team, it’s understandable why Arenado would want to go to a team that can compete for a championship.</p><p>However, that may not be the only reason that Arenado rejected a trade to Houston. It also may have just been <a href="https://x.com/katiejwoo/status/1869515729424560522" rel="noopener">too early in the process</a>, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic.</p><p>“Per sources: Part of Arenado’s decision stemmed from a preference to not make a decision this early in the offseason,” Woo reported on X, formerly Twitter. “It is unclear whether the Astros will continue heavily pursuing Arenado or pivot to other options.”</p><p>The Astros could continue trying to swing a deal for Arenado and see if he changes his mind, or they can turn elsewhere. Longtime third baseman Alex Bregman is a free agent this winter, so the Astros are looking for someone to replace him on the hot corner. The Astros also lost a lot of power in the middle of their lineup when they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cubs-news-chicago-land-kyle-tucker-massive-astros-trade">traded star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs</a> earlier this month.</p><p>No matter where Arenado ends up, a contender is going to get a quality player who can still get it done both in the field and at the plate. He may not be his prime self that dominated the game in all facets like he was during his time in Colorado, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-big-factor-possibly-waiving-no-trade-clause">Arenado is still a 10-time Gold Glove winner</a> who is one of the best hitters of this generation. The 33-year old will be a valuable addition to any team that takes a chance on him.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Why Nolan Arenado shockingly shot down potential Astros trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-blocks-potential-astros-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado blocks potential Astros trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-blocks-potential-Astros-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado blocks potential Astros trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T14:51:09-08:00">December 18th, 2:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T14:52:47-08:00">December 18th, 2:52pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Houston Astros</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Though it was reported that the St. Louis <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-astros-emerge-as-serious-suitor-in-nolan-arenado-trade-talks">Cardinals star Nolan Arenado could be traded to the Houston Astros</a>, that talk <a href="https://x.com/Feinsand/status/1869501031593492558">should be halted</a>, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It is being said that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-big-factor-possibly-waiving-no-trade-clause">Arenado will not waive his no-trade clause</a> to be sent to the Astros as both teams were developing talks on a possible deal, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6004944/2024/12/18/cardinals-nolan-arenado-astros-trade/" rel="noopener">though he could change his mind</a> per The Athletic.</p><p>A potential trade would even have the Cardinals not just sending the star third-baseman but also “$15-20 million” to <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-blocks-trade-cardinals-astros?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share" rel="noopener">“help pay down”</a> Arenado’s salary, as he is on track to make $74 million across the next three years. Last season, Arenado hit a .272 batting average, along with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs.</p><p>“According to sources, the Astros and Cardinals were in discussions on a potential trade involving the third baseman,” Feinsand wrote. “But Arenado informed St. Louis that he will not waive his no-trade clause to go to Houston.”</p><p>“The Cardinals were willing to send $15-20 million to the Astros as part of the deal to help pay down Arenado’s salary, sources said,” Feinsand continued. “The eight-time All-Star is set to earn $74 million over the next three years, though the Rockies are on the hook for $10 million as part of their 2021 trade with the Cardinals, while $12 million of the deal is deferred, bringing the present-day value of what he is owed to roughly $60 million. The money the Cardinals were willing to include would have brought the Astros’ commitment down to roughly $40-45 million over three years.”</p><p>Blocking a trade to Houston isn’t such a huge shock as it had been reported in the past that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-waive-no-trade-clause-6-teams">Arenado would waive his no-trade clause for six teams</a>, with the one in question not being a part of the list.</p><h2><b>Astros don’t hold out “hope” for a deal with Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-on-Sept.-25-2024-1.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Feinsand would later say that the American League ball club “aren’t holding out much hope” that a trade happens, sending the Cardinals star Arenado to them.</p><p>“A source said there were still “ongoing talks” between the clubs, though another source indicated that the Astros aren’t holding out much hope that a deal will get done. “‘It’s definitely not close,'” a source said.”</p><p>The move would have made sense for the team since the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-unclear-astros-court-alex-bregman-kyle-tucker-trade">Astros are seemingly about to lose long-time third baseman Alex Bregman</a>, with the 33-year-old acting as his replacement. It would be mentioned by The Athletic that the Astros were a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5993876/2024/12/14/astros-nolan-arenado-trade-suitor/" rel="noopener">“serious suitor”</a> for Arenado, but the tides have now quickly changed.</p><p>“In perhaps the clearest sign the organization is moving on from Alex Bregman,” Chandler Rome wrote. “The Houston Astros have emerged as a serious suitor for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, multiple league sources told The Athletic on Saturday.”</p><p>“No deal is believed to be imminent,” Rome continued. “But conversations between the Cardinals and Astros have increased since this week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas, during which Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged he ‘intends to try’ moving Arenado.”</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cubs-news-chicago-land-kyle-tucker-massive-astros-trade">Astros recently traded productive outfielder Kyle Tucker</a> to the Chicago Cubs as they are looking to replace some stars and firepower to the team. Now that it seems like Arenado will be off the list, they search elsewhere for answers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado blocks potential Astros trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-astros-emerge-as-serious-suitor-in-nolan-arenado-trade-talks');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Astros emerge as ‘serious suitor’ in Nolan Arenado trade talks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Astros-emerge-as-serious-suitor-in-Nolan-Arenado-trade-talks.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Astros emerge as ‘serious suitor’ in Nolan Arenado trade talks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-14T08:04:21-08:00">December 14th, 8:04am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-14T16:59:43-08:00">December 14th, 4:59pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Houston Astros</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In the continued odyssey of a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-rumors-could-intensify-after-john-mozeliak-statement">possible trade involving St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado</a>, the Houston Astros have emerged as a team that could be in huge consideration of acquiring the infielder. Even though there have been some who say the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-astros-must-avoid-trading-for-nolan-arenado">Astros shouldn’t trade for Arenado</a>, they could be in the market for that kind of player since the thought is that Alex Bregman will be elsewhere, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5993876/2024/12/14/astros-nolan-arenado-trade-suitor/" rel="noopener">“In perhaps the clearest sign</a> the organization is moving on from Alex Bregman,” Rome wrote. “The Houston Astros have emerged as a serious suitor for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, multiple league sources told The Athletic on Saturday.”</p><p>“No deal is believed to be imminent,” Rome continued. “But conversations between the Cardinals and Astros have increased since this week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas, during which Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged he ‘intends to try’ moving Arenado.”</p><h2><b>It’s “unclear” if Nolan Arenado would waive no-trade clause for Astros</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-on-Sept.-25-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-waive-no-trade-clause-6-teams">Arenado would reportedly waive his no-trade</a> clause only for six teams, with the Astros not being one of them, which is an area that Rome debates if the star would do or not. If a deal would go down between the Cardinals and the Astros, the latter would ask the former to “help pay down” since he is owed $74 million in the next three seasons.</p><p>“Arenado’s no-trade clause gives him ultimate authority to dictate the process,” Rome wrote. “And it’s unclear whether he’d waive it to join Houston. Arenado is owed $74 million across the next three seasons, a sum the Astros will ask the Cardinals to help pay down.”</p><p>“Arenado, 33, is a 10-time Gold Glove winner, an eight-time All-Star, and considered one of this generation’s greatest defensive third basemen,” Rome continued. “His offense dipped last season, one in which he posted a 101 OPS+ and hit just 16 home runs. Arenado still boasts an .857 lifetime OPS and the sort of minuscule strikeout rate Houston is searching for this winter.”</p><h2><b>Nolan Arenado interest from Astros could call Alex Bregman’s future</b></h2><p>As Rome said, the numbers were down last season for the 33-year-old as he also sported a .272 batting average to go with 71 RBIs along with the 16 home runs, but Houston would still get a dynamic player. It was also reported that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-willing-to-make-major-change-to-help-facilitate-cardinals-trade">Arenado would be open to playing first base</a> if a team needed it.</p><p>It would also insinuate that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/astros-news-astros-gm-drops-alex-bregman-statement-amid-rumors">Astros are moving on from Bregman</a>, who has been with the team since 2016.</p><p>“If the Astros do acquire Arenado, it would all but end any chances of a reunion with Bregman, one of the faces of Houston’s golden era,” Rome wrote. “And someone general manager Dana Brown called the team’s ‘biggest priority’ this winter.”</p><p>“According to both USA Today and MLB.com, Houston has a six-year, $156 million offer on the table for Bregman, who should command a contract with far more guaranteed money,” Rome continued. “This week, Brown would not answer whether the Astros have made Bregman another offer but reiterated his optimism for a reunion.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cubs-news-chicago-land-kyle-tucker-massive-astros-trade">The Astros recently traded Kyle Tucker</a> as the team is going through major changes currently as they finished with an 88-73 record and won the AL West but would lose in the wild-card round to the Detroit Tigers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Astros emerge as ‘serious suitor’ in Nolan Arenado trade talks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-prepared-to-make-roki-sasaki-free-agency-pitch');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cardinals prepared to make Roki Sasaki free agency ‘pitch’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cardinals-news-St.jpg"></figure><h1>Cardinals prepared to make Roki Sasaki free agency ‘pitch’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-11T05:48:00-08:00">December 11th, 5:48am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-11T05:48:00-08:00">December 11th, 5:48am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The winter meetings are underway in the MLB, and one team folks are keeping an eye on is the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-yankees-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-possibility-harsh-reality">St. Louis Cardinals</a>, as they are expected to trade away star third baseman Nolan Arenado in the near future. And yet, while a rebuild may be on the horizon for the Cardinals, that doesn’t mean they are going to sit out the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/roki-sasaki-agent-eye-opening-comment-frustrate-dodgers-yankees">Roki Sasaki sweepstakes</a>.</p><p>Sasaki, the superstar 23-year old Japanese pitcher, was posted for MLB free agency by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan’s top baseball league) on Monday, which meant that the race to land his signature was officially on.</p><p>With Sasaki being considered an international amateur, his contract will likely fall somewhere in the range of $5-7 million, which means every team has a shot to sign him. That includes St. Louis, who revealed they will <a href="https://x.com/dgoold/status/1866628260672442492" rel="noopener">make an effort</a> to land arguably the hottest name left on the free agent market.</p><p>“We will make a pitch,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“We will make a pitch.”</p><p>— John Mozeliak when asked if <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stlcards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stlcards</a> will engage with Roki Sasaki, talented Japanese pitcher who was posted this week.</p><p>— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) <a href="https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1866628260672442492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Cardinals set to make push for Roki Sasaki</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Japan-starting-pitcher-Roki-Sasaki-1.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Over four seasons with the Marines in the NPB, Sasaki has been simply sensational. He’s fresh off a 2024 campaign that saw him post a 10-5 record with a sparkling 2.35 earned run average while racking up 129 strikeouts. And at just 23 years old, there’s reason to believe that Sasaki is only scratching the surface of his potential.</p><p>The Cardinals may be tearing their roster down in some ways this offseason, but that shouldn’t preclude them from making a push to land Sasaki, especially considering the discounted price he will be available for. St. Louis may not be considered the frontrunner for Sasaki, but they will be just as involved as every other team, and who knows, maybe they will end up winning the sweepstakes for his signature.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cardinals prepared to make Roki Sasaki free agency ‘pitch’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-waive-no-trade-clause-6-teams');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Nolan Arenado will waive no-trade clause for 6 teams');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-will-waive-no-trade-clause-for-6-teams.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Nolan Arenado will waive no-trade clause for 6 teams</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-11T05:27:06-08:00">December 11th, 5:27am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-11T05:27:06-08:00">December 11th, 5:27am</time><address><a>Dan Fappiano</a>Dan Fappiano is a Connecticut based sports journalist and a graduate of both Tunxis Community College and Central Connecticut State University. Dan has spent time covering high school and professional sports in both the print and online medium. He hopes to see his beloved Chicago Bears win a Super Bowl someday.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the St. Louis Cardinals review their roster for 2025 and beyond, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-rumors-could-intensify-after-john-mozeliak-statement">idea of trading star third baseman Nolan Arenado</a> has come to the forefront. Based on Arenado’s no-trade clause, it’s easy to see where he would land should a trade come to fruition.</p><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies make up his National League wish list. They’re joined by the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox in the American League, via John Denton of MLB.com. Ultimately, if the Cardinals want to trade Arenado, <a href="https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/nolan-arenado-has-list-of-trade-candidates" rel="noopener">it’ll be to one of those six teams</a>.</p><p>Well more like four based on recent reporting. Both the Yankees and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-not-fit-nolan-arenado-amid-trade-buzz">Dodgers have been deemed improper fits</a> for an Arenado deal. While they each have money to spend, Arenado’s contract is worth $21 million in 2025. St. Louis will either need to keep some money in the deal, or any acquiring team better be ready to take on a big contract.</p><p>Arenado is willing to make some compromises. A lifetime third base, he is willing to move to first if it helps make a trade easier. But his defense has never been the question. The reason St. Louis’ phones aren’t off the hook is due to Arenado’s bat in 2024.</p><p>Over 152 games, Arenado hit .272 with 16 home runs and 71. It ended his three-season streak of reaching the All-Star Game. However, the slugger has eight of those throughout his career. He is a .285 hitter with 341 home runs and 1,132 RBI over his 12-year MLB career. With 10 Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers to go along with it.</p><p>The Cardinals will be in contact with those six teams as they try to get a trade to the finish line. There are still more hurdles to get over, but it is seeming increasingly likely that Nolan Arenado is playing elsewhere in 2025.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Nolan Arenado will waive no-trade clause for 6 teams

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-yankees-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-possibility-harsh-reality');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Yankees-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade possibility gets harsh reality');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Yankees-Cardinals-Nolan-Arenado-trade-possibility-gets-harsh-reality.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Yankees-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade possibility gets harsh reality</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-10T18:15:23-08:00">December 10th, 6:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-10T18:23:04-08:00">December 10th, 6:23pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St Louis Cardinals are <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-willing-to-make-major-change-to-help-facilitate-cardinals-trade">looking to trade Nolan Arenado this offseason</a>. After another year of missing the playoffs, they are kicking off a rebuild. Over in the American League, the New York Yankees need improved infield defense and another impactful bat. The connection was easy to make and rumors were swirling connecting the Bombers to Arenado. YES Network’s Jack Curry <a href="https://x.com/YESNetwork/status/1866653651810361599" rel="noopener">poured cold water</a> on that idea on Tuesday night.</p><p>“In talking to Yankee officials about Arenado, the answer that I was given was they have a lot of respect for the player that he has been and the player he still is,” Curry reported. “But now, at this moment, not a fit. It is not somebody they are out there seeking. I think at that price tag and at who he was last year, the Yankees absolutely believe there are better options.”</p><p>The Yankees signed Max Fried to an eight-year contract with the highest guarantee to a lefty pitcher ever. This report came after that, crushing one of the many trade options for the Bombers. Their new toy creates a massive surplus at starting pitching, which they could deal from for a hitter. That will not come in an Arenado deal.</p><h2><b>Where should the Cardinals look for Nolan Arenado trade?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-with-STL-Cardinals-2.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The issue for the Cardinals is they are trying to unload three years of an aging infielder. Small-market teams are likely out, as Nolan Arenado has over $70 million left on his deal. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-not-fit-nolan-arenado-amid-trade-buzz">Dodgers also took their hats</a> out of the ring, so the two biggest markets are out. Where should the Cardinals turn?</p><p>The Angels play in the second-biggest city in the country but are not thought of in the big-market conversation. They are almost done with the Anthony Rendon contract and could bring in Arenado to usher along their young prospects. They have already spent a lot of money this offseason and could add to their team.</p><p>The Washington Nationals are looking to power out of their rebuild this offseason. Bringing a former MVP to the young Nationals team would help them compete in a loaded NL East. It will be tough for them to land a free agent with their loaded division, so a trade would be some great business.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Yankees-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade possibility gets harsh reality

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-dodgers-not-fit-nolan-arenado-amid-trade-buzz');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Dodgers ‘not a fit’ for Nolan Arenado amid trade buzz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Dodgers-not-a-fit-for-Nolan-Arenado-amid-trade-buzz.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Dodgers ‘not a fit’ for Nolan Arenado amid trade buzz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-10T13:51:02-08:00">December 10th, 1:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-10T13:51:02-08:00">December 10th, 1:51pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers made a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-juan-soto-pursuit-gets-stunning-update-after-blake-snell-signing">serious run at Juan Soto this offseason</a>. Even after winning the World Series with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, they are looking to add. It’s easy to say that they are in on everyone because of their ridiculous payroll. But recent reports indicate that may not be true. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5984758/2024/12/10/dodgers-nolan-arenado-trade-cardinals/" rel="noopener">reported that the</a> Dodgers are not looking at a trade for Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado.</p><p>“League sources strongly indicated to The Athletic that a deal for Arenado is not a possibility the organization has considered,” Ardaya reported. He continued with a quote from Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes. “[Max] Muncy’s going to play third base for us. He’s such a big piece of what we do and has been a staple. So, yeah, Max is playing third base.”</p><p>The Dodgers are looking to add to a core that ripped through the postseason and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/dodgers-news-shohei-ohtani-simple-question-winning-world-series">won their second World Series in five years.</a> While they have disregarded positions to add players before, their current roster makes that nearly impossible. Ohtani is locked in at designated hitter and Freeman is one of the best first basemen in the league.</p><p>With those stars locked into their positions, Muncy is locked in at third. With the Dodgers out of play, where could Nolan Arenado land?</p><h2><b>Nolan Arenado landing spots that are better than the Dodgers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-with-STL-Cardinals-1.jpg"><figcaption>D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Superstar baseball players want to land with the Dodgers because of the good weather and great locker room. But that is not the possibility for everyone and Arenado finds himself in that situation. But the World Series loser should be in the conversation to land the Cardinals third baseman.</p><p>The Yankees lost to the Dodgers with Juan Soto and now they don’t have him. Adding quality bats to the lineup is key to staying in contention and that is what Arenado provides. Plus, they could move Jazz Chisholm to second base or center field, his two most common positions. That creates better lineup depth and better defense, something that plagued the Yankees all of 2024.</p><p>The Los Angeles Angels have already made four additions this offseason. Their biggest moves were signing Yusei Kikuchi and Jorge Soler but the depth additions of Travis D’Arnaud and Kyle Hendricks could be key as well. If they added Nolan Arenado to their team, it would be a great way to end the Anthony Rendon era. Arenado plays every game, which Rendon cannot say in his time in Anaheim.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Dodgers ‘not a fit’ for Nolan Arenado amid trade buzz

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-big-factor-possibly-waiving-no-trade-clause');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nolan Arenado’s big factor in possibly waiving Cardinals’ no-trade clause');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenados-big-factor-in-possibly-waiving-no-trade-clause.jpg"></figure><h1>Nolan Arenado’s big factor in possibly waiving Cardinals’ no-trade clause</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-10T11:07:15-08:00">December 10th, 11:07am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-10T12:05:11-08:00">December 10th, 12:05pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St. Louis Cardinals and Nolan Arenado are in the midst of preparing for a potential trade. However, there’s a major caveat involved for Arenado. Although he <a href="https://x.com/katiejwoo/status/1866552876505411755" rel="noopener">has a no-trade clause</a>, his agent said via Katie Woo of The Athletic on X, “The Cardinals are motivated (to trade). Nolan is willing to strongly consider it … but he’s not going to go just anywhere.”<br><br>She also added that Arenado’s agent wants him to go to “A team that he thinks is going to win now and consistently for the remainder of his career.” After Arenado spent the first eight seasons with the Colorado Rockies, he was traded to the Cardinals in an attempt to win. After they secured Paul Goldschmidt, the window of winning opened vastly for Arenado.<br><br>Unfortunately, after posting a 93-69 record in 2022, they were unable to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card round. The Phillies won both games of that series and put a stamp on an underwhelming season for St. Louis. The Cardinals have not reached the postseason since, finishing in last in 2023 before missing out with an 83-79 record in 2024.</p><h2><b>Who could Nolan Arenado want to go to from the Cardinals?</b></h2><p>A team that could <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-yankees-the-nolan-arenado-trade-favorites">target Arenado would be the New York Yankees</a>. After they missed out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes, they could be desperate for another stay to enter The Bronx. Arenado could replace Oswaldo Cabrera at third base and put in an established silver slugger and gold glover at the position. Furthermore, it could add more depth to the Yankees lineup.<br><br>Losing Soto hurts like crazy, but Arenado is still a premier hitter. Not to mention, batting in front of or behind Aaron Judge could do wonders for him. Plus, Yankee Stadium is an easy ballpark to whack home runs in. Plus, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-rumors-could-intensify-after-john-mozeliak-statement">Arenado trade rumors have intensified</a> after team president John Mozeliak guaranteed his departure. Regardless, he has full control of where he wants to go, thanks to the no-trade clause.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nolan Arenado’s big factor in possibly waiving Cardinals’ no-trade clause

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-trade-rumors-could-intensify-after-john-mozeliak-statement');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade rumors could intensify after John Mozeliak statement');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cardinals-news-Nolan-Arenado-trade-rumors-could-intensify-after-John-Mozeliak-statement.jpg"></figure><h1>Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade rumors could intensify after John Mozeliak statement</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-09T20:34:13-08:00">December 9th, 8:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-09T20:34:13-08:00">December 9th, 8:34pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">St. Louis Cardinals</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The past two seasons have not gone according to plan for the St. Louis Cardinals. A perennial playoff team, they have missed out on the postseason on two consecutive years, and they have been signaling their intention to retool and start again. And unlike last year, the Cardinals appear more likely to come through on these plans of theirs — with team president John Mozeliak <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-possibility-gaining-momentum-catch">basically guaranteeing Nolan Arenado’s departure</a> prior to the 2025 season.</p><p>Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Mozeliak <a href="https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/john-mozeliak-cardinals-looking-to-trade-nolan-arenado" rel="noopener">revealed his honest plans</a> for Arenado in anticipation of what will be a “reset” season of sorts for the Cardinals in 2025.</p><p>“It’s my intention to try [and trade Arenado away]. We both remain optimistic that both parties will remain happy somehow. [Arenado remaining with the Cardinals] is a possibility, but I’m not sure that puts us where we want to be. From a financial standpoint of trying to move our payroll – there are certainly other ways to do that, but [trading Arenado] would be a big help. It’s financial, but it also creates a runway for someone else,” Mozeliak said, per John Denton of MLB.com.</p><p>Indeed, Arenado has been made very available on the trade market, with the Cardinals looking to shed the remaining $94 million on the veteran third baseman’s contract (including the deferred money that’s owed him until 2041). It makes sense for St. Louis to try and get this contract off the books especially when they’ve hit a dead end on the contending front over the past two seasons.</p><p>The good news is that Arenado is not a deadweight; he remains a quality third baseman who, despite declining from the plate, can still play the hot corner as well as anyone in the league. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nolan-arenado-perfect-trade-destinations">Cardinals will have to take into account</a> Arenado’s preferences in a trade, however, as the 33-year-old has a full no-trade clause.</p><h2><b>Gauging the Cardinals’ best potential Nolan Arenado trade partners</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Now that Juan Soto has made his free agency decision, the other offseason dominoes should soon fall into place. Nolan Arenado may not be an outfielder, a one for one Soto replacement, but he makes sense for a team that can move around multiple key pieces around the diamond to pave the way for him at third base.</p><p>The likes of Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-chris-taylor">have been linked</a> to the 33-year-old third baseman who is coming off a 3.1 WAR season in 2024 buoyed by his elite defense at the hot corner.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado trade rumors could intensify after John Mozeliak statement

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/sonny-gray-ranking-best-trade-destinations');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ranking best Sonny Gray trade destinations');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ranking-best-Sonny-Gray-trade-destinations-as-rumors-swirl.jpg"></figure><h1>Ranking best Sonny Gray trade destinations</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-07T21:06:24-08:00">December 7th, 9:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-07T21:06:49-08:00">December 7th, 9:06pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St. Louis Cardinals will make a huge decision about their immediate future this winter. They can either keep their roster largely intact and try to reach the ceiling they fell short of in 2024, or the front office can <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-cardinals-surprising-nolan-arenado-sonny-gray-trade-stance">commit to a full rebuild</a> for the first time in ages. If the organization chooses the second option, Sonny Gray is one of several players who will likely be wearing a new uniform next year.</p><p>The veteran right-handed starting pitcher was a central part of last offseason’s retooling plan, but the higher-ups could be persuaded to quickly move him since the Cards managed only 83 wins in his first year under contract. Gray has a no-trade clause and is due to make $25 million in 2025 and $35 million in 2026, so finding an appealing deal is an unenviable job.</p><p>Though, if president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is willing to compromise on either dollars or return value, then <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-reds-to-aggressively-pursue-trade-for-75-million-cardinals-pitcher">trading Gray is certainly feasible</a>. Several teams will view him as a stabilizing presence in their rotation who can help them reach October. His age will naturally be the source of some quibbling at the negotiation table (turned 35 in November), but he should be a coveted asset after recording 203 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings pitched. Who is the best fit, though?</p><p>Gray’s underwhelming run with the New York Yankees (4.51 ERA in 41 games) drew him the reputation of melting in a major market. Fair or not, that label will resurface as his name becomes more mired in trade rumors. We will inevitably consider it as well while we sort out his best potential destinations.</p><p>Bear in mind, however, that the teams most likely to invest in this aging talent will probably be encircled by fervid fans and substantial pressure.</p><h2><b>The Mets have the dough to accommodate a Sonny Gray trade<br></b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Steve-Cohen.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After lamenting Gray’s first foray in the most prominent sports market, I am immediately going to float New York as a landing spot. He is not the same man he was in 2017. Who is, right? The three-time All-Star and former Cy Young runner-up knew no other MLB home besides the Oakland Athletics when he donned the Pinstripes all those years ago.</p><p>He has played for three franchises since then, embodying a commanding mix of experience and composure. Gray can handle the heat this time around, specifically as a member of the New York Mets. The lights are not quite as bright, and the ridicule is not as loud in Queens.</p><p>His responsibilities would be bigger, however. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/athletics-news-luis-severino-decision-sign-with-athletics">With Luis Severino gone</a>, and Sean Manaea also expected to cash out in free agency, the Mets might require a co-ace alongside Kodai Senga. Rather than overpay for a regression candidate like Manaea, owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns could determine that it is wiser to spring for an established guy like Gray.</p><p>The 2011 first-round draft pick has seemingly procured a steady floor for himself since being traded from the Yankees. His 3.51 career ERA and track record of adapting to a new environment should be attractive selling points to a ballclub that will face reasonably high expectations and reasonably high roster turnover entering 2025.</p><h2><b>Gray is a good fit for the Giants</b></h2><p>The Farhan Zaidi era was defined by an inability to catch the big fish in free agency. With the World Series legitimacy that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/giants-news-buster-posey-shockingly-takes-over-farhan-zaidi">Buster Posey brings to the front office</a>, the San Francisco Giants must establish themselves as an undeniable destination to available star players. They cannot be snubbed by Gray should a potential trade package arise.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/dodgers-news-blake-snell-stacked-admission-signing-la">Blake Snell is now pitching elsewhere</a> in the division, which should motivate Posey to aggressively pursue another high-quality hurler before winter’s end. The franchise’s identity is tied to its starting rotation, something the three-time champion will want to emphasize since he helped formulate that exact blueprint during the 2010s. Gray may not be a perfect replacement for Snell, but he is an ideal option to pair next to fellow righty Logan Webb at the top of the staff.</p><p>Furthermore, the Tennessee native shared some good times with San Francisco’s manager. Bob Melvin served as Gray’s skipper in Oakland for the first four and a half years of his MLB career; ergo, there might be a special bond that exists between the two men. Their prior history could be a boon to the Giants’ clubhouse, as Gray is living proof of the success the Melvin model can achieve.</p><p>The 12-year pitcher has been part of a Bay Area franchise that has experienced unforeseen success before, so how appropriate would it be for him to contribute to a San Francisco resurgence when national attention is fixed elsewhere in the NL West?</p><h2><b>The Blue Jays might get antsy</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sonny-Gray-on-August-12-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Much like the Giants, the Blue Jays occasionally wind up being losers in a superstar sweepstakes. They <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-shohei-ohtani-blue-jays-espn-reporter">failed to land Shohei Ohtani</a> last year (pun intended) and are not anticipated to be the victorious suitors in the Juan Soto pursuit this winter. A failure to sign or acquire a premium talent will compel fans to revisit the club’s current infrastructure, and that is not a good thing for ownership.</p><p>Toronto’s surprising allegiance to both general manager Ross Atkins and skipper John Schneider is much tougher to comprehend if significant personnel upgrades are not made. The Jays’ most glaring issue in the pitching staff was the bullpen (second-worst ERA in MLB), but the starting rotation is undeniably in need of some sprucing up, too.</p><p>Considering that 35-year-old Chris Bassitt and 33-year-old Kevin Gausman will both celebrate birthdays in early 2025, it may be ill-advised to obtain the rights to the aging Sonny Gray. Again, though, there is an unbearable sense of urgency permeating the Rogers Centre. If the front office opts to hang onto pillars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, it is reasonable to surmise a proactive offseason.</p><p>The Blue Jays will presumably feel restless <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-blue-jays-red-sox-juan-soto-smokescreen">if they miss out on Soto</a>, leading Atkins to possibly explore his options in the trade market. Committing to the aforementioned second-generation stars would incentivize the organization to maximize its short-term contention window, or rather re-open it. Gray can oblige the Toronto brass by greatly lengthening its rotation. An additional starter who can reach 160 innings will carry significant weight during the long MLB campaign.</p><p>His hypothetical arrival could also serve as the mandatory gesture the city demands in order to feel somewhat upbeat about the Blue Jays’ immediate prospects.</p><h2><b>The Rangers may want to reload for 2025</b></h2><p>We are going to stay in the American League for the conclusion of this list and highlight a team that is a more logical trade partner for the Cardinals than most people might think. The Texas Rangers are only 13 months removed from <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/rangers-news-mlb-world-goes-crazy-after-texas-survives-diamondbacks-for-world-series-title">winning their first World Series championship</a>. That type of long-awaited breakthrough could convince some owners to revel in the allotted grace period for a bit, but Ray Davis did not assemble this roster to be a one-hit wonder.</p><p>With Corey Seager and Marcus Semien each locked up for the next several years, Texas’ reasonable course of action is to launch itself back into the playoff picture. Such an objective is not feasible until president of baseball ops Chris Young replenishes the starting staff.</p><p>Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, two-time All-Star Nathan Eovaldi and underrated southpaw Andrew Heaney are all free agents and Jacob deGrom is a constant injury risk. Bruce Bochy is clamoring for some stability in the top part of his rotation. Gray, whose roots are in the South, could be the adhesive that allows the Rangers to piece together a respectable unit on the mound.</p><p>Fans have seen what can happen when this organization hunts for pitching. One trustworthy arm could ensure that 2023 represents more than just a nice story for Arlington.</p><p>Wherever Sonny Gray ends up in 2025, he better make it count. The accomplished starter does not have much time left to be a part of something truly special before he hangs up his cleats for good.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ranking best Sonny Gray trade destinations

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-dodgers-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-chris-taylor');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Possible Dodgers-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade gets Chris Taylor twist');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Possible-Cardinals-Dodgers-Nolan-Arenado-trade-gets-Chris-Taylor-twist.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Possible Dodgers-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade gets Chris Taylor twist</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-07T15:30:41-08:00">December 7th, 3:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-07T16:00:11-08:00">December 7th, 4:00pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Will the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-yankees-the-nolan-arenado-trade-favorites">Los Angeles Dodgers trade for Nolan Arenado</a>? The question begins with whether or not the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-possibility-gaining-momentum-catch">St. Louis Cardinals will even trade the star third baseman</a>. Arenado is set to make a lucrative amount of money through the 2027 season, so the financial element will be a factor.</p><p>“Rival execs say that if the Cardinals are going to move Nolan Arenado, who is owed $64 million, they expect St. Louis would have to either eat some salary or take on a contract a trade partner wants to move,” Buster Olney of ESPN <a href="https://x.com/Buster_ESPN/status/1865487001476292698" rel="noopener">wrote Saturday</a> on X, formerly Twitter. “Chris Taylor is owed $17 million on his deal. If LAD wants him, seems like there is middle ground to be found.”</p><p>The Cardinals will have to take on some of Arenado’s salary in all likelihood if a trade were to come to fruition. If a potential suitor were to add a player with a lucrative contract, though, it could catch the Cardinals’ attention. They would not need to pay as much of Arenado’s salary, although they would be taking on another possibly expensive contract.</p><p>It should be noted that Taylor has a $12 million club option for 2026, an option that will likely not be picked up by either the Dodgers or another team barring a bounce-back 2025 campaign.</p><h2><b>Nolan Arenado, Chris Taylor looking for bounce-back seasons as Dodgers-Cardinals trade rumors swirl</b></h2><p>Taylor, a versatile 34-year-old, endured a miserable 2024 season at the plate. He slashed just .202/.298/.300 across 87 games played. He only hit four home runs as well.</p><p>Arenado did not have his best season by any means in 2024 either. The 33-year-old hit .272/.325/.394 in 152 games. He added 16 home runs. The eight-time All-Star did not play up to his standards.</p><p>Still, Arenado is going to draw interest if made available for trade by the Cardinals. Not only does he feature a high offensive ceiling, but Arenado is among the best defensive third baseman in the entire sport.</p><p>The Dodgers could package Taylor with a few prospects with potential in a possible deal. It remains to be seen if LA has serious interest in acquiring Arenado, however.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Possible Dodgers-Cardinals Nolan Arenado trade gets Chris Taylor twist

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-cardinals-not-looking-trade-ryan-helsley');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Cardinals not actively looking to trade Ryan Helsley');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12-05-24-mozeliak-helsley-featured.jpeg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Cardinals not actively looking to trade Ryan Helsley</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-05T12:02:06-08:00">December 5th, 12:02pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-05T12:02:06-08:00">December 5th, 12:02pm</time><address><a>David Korn</a>David Korn is an MLB associate editor at ClutchPoints. He is also a producer at MLB Network Radio and covers college basketball for A10Talk. David graduated from George Washington in 2023, where he was the radio play-by-play broadcaster for their Men's and Women's Basketball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After a disappointing season in which they missed the postseason for the second-straight year, the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to shake things up. Third baseman Nolan Arenado and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-devin-williams-ryan-helsley-trades-expected-this-winter">closer Ryan Helsley have been two of the most popular names</a> in the trade market this offseason.</p><p>The Cardinals and their president of baseball operations John Mozeliak have made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5971884/2024/12/05/mlb-what-im-hearing-cardinals-blue-jays/" rel="noopener">their stance</a> on if they are considering trading Helsley clear to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.</p><p>“As the St. Louis Cardinals reset, closer Ryan Helsley appears perhaps their most obvious trade candidate,” Rosenthal wrote. “But teams talking to the Cardinals are under the impression the team will hold Helsley, and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak does not dispute that point.”</p><p>“It’s something we will always remain open-minded to, but our plan is to have him be part of our organization,” Mozeliak said to Rosenthal on Thursday.”</p><p>Helsley has one more year of team control before he enters free agency. While they could still strike a deal with a contender for Helsley at the deadline, it seems like the Cardinals plan to keep him around. If they view Helsley as a part of their future, the next step could be offering him a contract extension.</p><p>Teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are all teams that would have potentially been in the market for a closer like Helsley.</p><p>Even if the Cardinals decide to keep Helsley, the should still be able to get a significant return from Arenado, who does appear to still be available.</p><h2><b>Ryan Helsley’s 2024 season with the St. Louis Cardinals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12-05-24-helsley-image.jpeg"><figcaption>© Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-robert-suarez-jumps-ryan-helsley-nl-reliever-of-year-favorite">Helsley had an incredible season in 2024</a>, asserting himself as one of baseball’s top closers. In 64 appearances, Helsey had a 2.04 ERA, recorded a Major League-leading 49 saves in 53 opportunites and struck out 79 batters.</p><p>Helsley was also named an All-Star, finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting and won the Trevor Hoffman award for being the best closer in the NL.</p><p>It is clear that the 30-year-old Helsley would be an asset to any contending team. Mozeliak did not completely shut the door on potentially trading him. But, if the Cardinals do not view themselves as contenders for the next few seasons, it would not make sense to keep Helsley.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Cardinals not actively looking to trade Ryan Helsley

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-possibility-gaining-momentum-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Cardinals-Nolan Arenado trade possibility gaining momentum, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Cardinals-Nolan-Arenado-trade-possibility-gaining-momentum-but-theres-a-catch.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Cardinals-Nolan Arenado trade possibility gaining momentum, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-03T12:14:07-08:00">December 3rd, 12:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-03T12:30:05-08:00">December 3rd, 12:30pm</time><address><a>Russell Steinberg</a>Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Boston Red Sox</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-yankees-the-nolan-arenado-trade-favorites">St. Louis Cardinals are exploring trade options</a> for their veteran third baseman, Nolan Arenado. They’ve made no secret about it, as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-st-louis-announces-front-office-shakeup">rebuilding Cardinals</a> are looking to both free up payroll and get younger.</p><p>Despite Arenado’s no-trade clause and hefty contract, multiple sources told Katie Woo of The Athletic that they believe the Cardinals are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5964129/2024/12/03/st-louis-cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade/" rel="noopener">more likely to trade</a> the eight-time All-Star than not.</p><p>Woo also reports that Arenado would only waive his no-trade clause to go to a contending team and is even willing to move to first base if that makes him a better fit with a competitive club.</p><p>The other stumbling block to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-reasons-cardinals-must-trade-nolan-arenado">an Arenado trade</a> comes with his contract, which runs through 2027 and still has $74 million remaining on it. With the Cardinals insistent on cutting costs, the contender in question would need to, at minimum, take on a significant portion of that deal.</p><p>And as the Cardinals continue their pivot to a rebuild, Woo added that they could also explore trade options for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-willson-contreras-full-time-position-change">catcher Wilson Contreras</a> and pitchers Sonny Gray, Steven Matz and Ryan Helsley. That quartet is slated to make $63.6 million next year alone. Woo also said that Contreras and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-news-sonny-gray-response-st-louis-trade-rumors">Gray have both expressed interest in returning</a> to St. Louis next year.</p><h2><b>Contending teams that could trade for the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Curry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Perhaps not coincidentally, the list of teams interested in Arenado looks awfully similar to the list of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-insider-predicts-juan-soto-contract-exceed-real-value-shohei-ohtani-deal">teams vying for Juan Soto</a>. With the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers all chasing Soto, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adds that the Yankees and Red Sox <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5961937/2024/12/02/mlb-free-agency-juan-soto-willy-adames-corbin-burnes/" rel="noopener">could both pivot</a> to Arenado if Soto goes elsewhere — and the Yankees will have a need at first base.</p><p>Those five teams all expect to contend in 2025, so none should be discounted for Arenado’s services.</p><p>Woo pointed out that what happens with Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman could be a good barometer for Arenado’s value. The free agent could return to Houston, but wherever he goes, he could fetch a contract at around the level of what Arenado is making now.</p><p>And once the dominoes start falling, Arenado’s fate should become clearer. Along with Bregman, the Milwaukee Brewers’ <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-yankees-astros-potential-willy-adames-free-agency-suitors">Willy Adames is a free agent willing to play third</a> and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-phillies-alec-bohm-trade-block-career-season">Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm</a> has long been a rumored trade candidate. If each of those players move, it might force the hand of one of the contenders left on the outside of the third base arms race.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

MLB rumors: Cardinals-Nolan Arenado trade possibility gaining momentum, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cardinals-news-nolan-arenado-triggers-dodgers-trade-rumors-post');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado triggers Dodgers trade rumors with intriguing post');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cardinals-news-Nolan-Arenado-triggers-Dodgers-trade-rumors-with-intriguing-Instagram-post.jpg"></figure><h1>Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado triggers Dodgers trade rumors with intriguing post</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-03T09:05:01-08:00">December 3rd, 9:05am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-03T11:17:32-08:00">December 3rd, 11:17am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Whether he was just trolling or not, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-phillies-nolan-arenado-trade-destination">St. Louis Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado</a> caused quite a buzz online with a cryptic post on social media. Just recently, Arenado shared a series of images and a video in a slide post on Instagram that he also captioned with the following words: “Offseason Photos.”</p><p>While that doesn’t seem to be all that intriguing, several fans were quick to point out that one of the pictures had Kendrick Lamar’s “Dodger Blue” song playing in the background.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">some would call me, delusional! </p><p>But Nolan Arenado posted something on IG with “Dodger Blue” playing 🫣 <a href="https://t.co/ZOasno2N3z">pic.twitter.com/ZOasno2N3z</a></p><p>— Dodgers Muse (@LADodgersMuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/LADodgersMuse/status/1863273506441678899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><p>Perhaps Arenado simply loves the eighth track on K-Dot’s latest album, “GNX,” but a lot of folks on the internet have a different idea. They seem to believe that it was an attempt by the Cardinals star to convey his desire to play for the reigning World Series champions.</p><p>“Hey thanks for letting us know so I don’t waste anymore of my money on your jersey for my son who thinks you’re the best and would never leave St.Louis . You were everything to St.Louis you’ll be just another teammate of Ohtani for the Dodgers,” a commenter on Arenado’s post wrote.</p><p>Arenado saw that comment, though, and replied to it with: “Y’all funny” along <a href="https://x.com/CantBeatAudel/status/1863288902846443846" rel="noopener">with laughing in tears emojis</a>.</p><p>From another Instagram user: “Oh ehm gee #28 what a song . Love it . Are you trying to subliminally say something? Well anyways big fan supes cool pics.”</p><p>“Don’t like what the song choice implies😭,” a fan shared.</p><p>“I apologize the front office let you down in STL,” another fan commented.</p><p>“This song has to mean something right,” a different post read.</p><h2><b>Trade rumors involving Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado continue to reverberate </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Nolan-Arenado_7fa579.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Arenado’s name has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-dodgers-yankees-the-nolan-arenado-trade-favorites">circulating in MLB trade rumors this offseason</a>, as many expect him to be moved before the start of the 2025 season. There is a full no-trade clause on Arenado’s contract, but he can waive that if he’s in favor of the spot he would land in such a trade scenario.</p><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers will always be linked to stars looking for a new environment, but it would also be interesting to see just what kind of package they would be willing to send to St. Louis in exchange for the 10-time Gold Glove winner. The Dodgers have plenty of infielders, and for what it’s worth, Arenado is said to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5947221/2024/11/26/cardinals-nolan-arenado-trade-talks-position-change/" rel="noopener">willing to play first base</a> (h/t Katie Woo of The Athletic).</p><p>The 33-year-old Arenado inked an eight-year contract extension with the Colorado Rockies worth $260 million in 2019 before the NL West club sent him to the Cardinals in a blockbuster trade in 2021. Arenado has a contract until the 2027 MLB season and is to receive <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/12643/nolan-arenado" rel="noopener">deferred money up to 2041</a> when he’s 50 years old, per Spotrac.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado triggers Dodgers trade rumors with intriguing post

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-dodgers-yankees-the-nolan-arenado-trade-favorites');   ga('set', 'title', 'MLB rumors: Dodgers, Yankees the Nolan Arenado trade favorites');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MLB-rumors-Dodgers-Yankees-the-Nolan-Arenado-trade-favorites.jpg"></figure><h1>MLB rumors: Dodgers, Yankees the Nolan Arenado trade favorites</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-01T14:22:21-08:00">December 1st, 2:22pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-01T14:22:21-08:00">December 1st, 2:22pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The St Louis Cardinals are starting a rebuild this offseason. They <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cardinals-chaim-bloom-set-to-lead-st-louis-rebuild">hired Chaim Bloom</a> to set up their minor league scouting department, signifying a change in organizational direction. A personnel move that could do the same thing is a trade of Nolan Arenado. The third baseman has been at the forefront of trade rumors this offseason and things are heating up, with the Yankees and Dodgers in the hunt. NJ.com’s Randy Miller<a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rumors-trades-and-signings?t=trades-and-transactions" rel="noopener"> reported the latest</a> on WFAN Sports Radio in New York.</p><p>One guy that could be a possibility [for the Yankees] is Arenado from St. Louis,” Miller said, per MLB.com. “I think the Cardinals are trying to trade him, St. Louis would have to pick up some of the money and maybe the Yankees could have a deal where they trade some prospects.</p><p>Miller continued, “I keep hearing it’s going to be either the Yankees or the Dodgers — I think he’s a West Coast guy that would prefer to go to the Dodgers and I think the Dodgers want him.”</p><p>The Yankees could use the surehanded infielder, as they struggled on defense all of 2024. Jazz Chisholm was solid at the hot corner but his natural position is second base. Arenado would be a welcomed addition to the Bronx.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Dodgers already have a logjam in the infield. With Freddie Freeman at first and Shohei Ohtani at DH, Max Muncy has been playing third and improved at the position. Someone would have to find a new position if this move went down.</p><h2><b>Best fits for Nolan Arenado </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nolan-Arenado-with-STL-Cardinals.jpg"><figcaption>D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Of these two options, the Yankees are the best fit for Nolan Arenado. With Gleyber Torres hitting free agency, they have an open position in their infield. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-nolan-arenado-willing-to-make-major-change-to-help-facilitate-cardinals-trade">Arenado told teams he would be willing to move positions</a> if he was traded, but he won’t need to with the Yankees.</p><p>One of Arenado or Muncy would have to move if he went to the Dodgers. Second base would be the easiest position to move to for a third baseman. Arenado has never played a game anywhere but third while Muncy has 178 pro games at second. With Tommy Edman back on a long-term deal, shortstop is handled so this trade would have Mookie Betts locked into the outfield.</p><p>If one of these two teams lands Arenado, the Cardinals would likely have to eat money. Both teams are nearing the luxury tax threshold and need the assistance. That could land them a better prospect, which would be good for the Cardinals’ rebuild.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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