When trade rumors connecting St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Houston Astros surfaced this offseason, it was tempting to frame a potential deal as a rebuilding Cardinals team shipping Arenado out to a contender.
How foolish that framing would've been. First, a proposed December trade fell apart thanks to Arenado's contractual no-trade clause. Then, Houston and St. Louis jumped out to identical 7–8 starts.
On Monday, Arenado brought the saga full circle—crushing his second home run of the season in the seventh inning of the Cardinals' game against the Astros to put his team up 8–0.
Nolan Arenado vetoed a trade to the Astros during the offseason. Tonight, he hit a homer against them 💥
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 15, 2025
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/xCvnxR1nd3
Arenado, 33, entered Monday slashing .283/.387/.415 this season with a home run and seven RBIs.
A probable Hall of Famer, Arenado has eight All-Star appearances, 10 Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers to his name; he's finished in the top 10 of the National League MVP voting on six seperate occasions.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cardinals' Nolan Arenado Homers Against Astros After Nixing Offseason Trade.
