Cardinals Fan Favorite's Lack Of Action Could Indicate Desire To Remain In St. Louis

Could the beloved St. Louis veteran stay for another season?

Apr 16, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals scoreboard as a plane passes by during the seventh inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals would prefer to retain all their most valuable assets this offseason but that could be tough given their rebuilding journey.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak's final offseason as head honcho could be his most challenging yet. With St. Louis looking to shed payroll, certain fan favorites have been placed on the trade block.

However, a beloved Cardinals slugger who joined the 11-time World Series champions in hopes of helping the franchise win its 12th title might not want to be traded after all.

"Over the past week, the Cardinals continued reaching out to a few clubs and gauging interest in trading for All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado," St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold reported Thursday morning. "If any of these talks produce an appealing deal that could place Arenado with a contending team, the Cardinals plan to present that to their third baseman, who has millions left on his contract and a no-trade clause. While there are notable similarities between the two situations 17 years apart, there is also a massive difference: the tone. Arenado has not requested a trade, sources confirmed.

Goold is referring to the situation 17 years ago when Hall of Fame third baseman Scott Rolen requested to be traded from the Cardinals in 2007 -- one year after the franchise won its 10th World Series title.

Fortunately for Mozeliak this time, it doesn't appear Arenado's as eager as Rolen was to leave the Cardinals, whose circumstances are far worse than they were in 2007.

Retaining Arenado throughout this rebuilding phase will help fill seats at Busch Stadium, but the $74 million remaining on his contract could hinder the process. If the six-time Platinum Glove defender surprisingly wants to remain with the Cardinals, it'll be interesting to see how Mozeliak approaches the trade market.

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