Report: Astros serious suitors for Cardinals' Arenado

The Houston Astros are serious suitors to acquire St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, sources told The Athletic's Chandler Rome.

Arenado has three years and $74 million remaining on his contract and also holds a full no-trade clause. The Astros are expected to ask the Cardinals to pay some of Arenado's remaining salary, Rome reports.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said at the winter meetings that the club would try to move Arenado ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Arenado's agent Joel Wolfe listed the Astros, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres as clubs he'd directly spoken to about acquiring the 33-year-old.

Arenado hit .272/.325/.394 with 16 home runs, 23 doubles, and 71 RBIs across 152 games in 2024. He continues to rank among the game's best defenders at third base, finishing the 2024 campaign in the 95th percentile in Baseball Savant's outs above average.

The Astros have also shown interest in bringing back longtime third baseman Alex Bregman and reportedly offered him a six-year, $156-million contract. Bregman is apparently looking for a deal closer to the $200-million mark.

Houston acquired infielder Isaac Paredes as part of the blockbuster trade that sent star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Paredes is currently expected to patrol third base but is also capable of playing first base.